Lot 3146. A pair of famille rose ‘daji’ double-gourd wall plaques, Qianlong-Jiaqing period (1736-1820); 19 5/8 x 13 3/8 in. (50 x 34 cm.). Estimate HKD 600,000 - HKD 800,000. Price realised HKD 937,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2019. 

Each plaque is moulded as a flattened double gourd vase supported on a simulated wood stand and decorated with a turquoise trompe l’oeil ribbon tied at the waist. The upper and lower sections are decorated with roundels enclosing the gilt characters ‘da’ and ‘ji’, encircled by five bats (wufu) in blue enamel reserved on a gilt and coral-red diaper ground. The mouth rim is surmounted by a large gilt bat. The plaques are mounted on a lacquered frame decorated with further bats in flight. 

Provenance: Acquired in Singapore, 25 November 1972.

Note: Compare the present lot to two nearly identical plaques, both without the carved lacquer frame: one sold at Christie’s New York, 19-20 September 2013, lot 1414; and another from the collection of Sir Quo-Wei Lee, sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 3 October 2018, lot 146.