A rare large yellow-ground underglaze-blue decorated 'Lotus bouquet' dish, Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period

31 janvier 2020

A rare large yellow-ground underglaze-blue decorated 'Lotus bouquet' dish, Yongzheng six-character mark and of the period

Lot 3256. A rare large yellow-ground underglaze-blue decorated 'Lotus bouquet' dish, Yongzheng six-character mark within a double circle and of the period (1723-1735); 13 3/4 in. (35 cm.) diam. Estimate HKD 4,000,000 - HKD 6,000,000. Price realised HKD 5,440,000. © Christie’s Image Ltd 2014.

The dish is painted in strong tones of cobalt blue on the interior with a bouquet of lotus flowers, seed pod and leaves, and other aquatic plants tied together with a fluttering ribbon, encircled by three concentric rings and a composite floral scroll around the cavetto, all on a bright yellow ground, below a wave band on a pale green ground. The exterior is decorated with a further floral scroll above classic scrolls on a yellow ground, below a keyfret band on a pale green ground, box.

Property from The Leshantang Collection.

Provenance: Sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29 October 1991, lot 200.

Literature: The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, pl. 46.

Note: The combination of yellow enamel and underglaze-blue cobalt on this dish is fashioned after the early Ming prototypes from the fifteenth century, while the lotus bouquet design also first appeared on porcelain during the Yongle and Xuande period, such as the Yongle blue and white dish from the J.M. Hu Collection and sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 May 2012, lot 3975.

A Yongzheng-marked dish of the same design and of slightly larger size (39 cm. diam.) was sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2009, lot 749 . A smaller pair was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 31 October 2000, lot 889; another smaller one was sold at Christie's London, 13 May 2014, lot 294.

Compare to two Qianlong-marked dishes of this pattern; one illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994, vol. 2, p. 133, no. 763; the other included in the exhibition, Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 9 June - 2 August 1992, p. 275, no. 142.

Christie’s. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 26 November 2014