Page 13 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

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AN EXTREMELY RARE CAFÉ-AU-LAIT-GROUND 清雍正 米黃地礬紅彩雲龍紋盤
IRON-RED ‘DRAGON’ DISH
MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG 《大清雍正年製》款
the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within
a double square
Diameter 5¼ in., 13.4 cm
This dish is striking for its rare combination of iron-red
enamels on a café-au-lait ground. The design follows earlier
Kangxi period dishes, such as one with an iron-red dragon
on a white ground, illustrated in Yuci yizhen / Treasures
of Imperial Porcelain, Hangzhou, 2011, pp 26-27; and is
also related to a group of Kangxi period ‘dragon’ dishes in
underglaze blue and white slip on café-au-lait grounds, such
as one in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Soame
Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1971, pl. XIII, and
another formerly in the Goldschlager Collection, sold at
Christie’s London, 4th June 1973, lot 190.
Only a small number of Yongzheng dishes of this type are
known. Compare a closely related example, formerly in the
E. T. Hall Collection, included in the exhibition Iron in the
Fire. The Chinese Potters’ Exploration of Iron Oxide Glazes,
Ashmolean Museum, London, 1988, cat. no. 81, and sold
at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th May 2021, lot 2931, from
the Yidetang Collection. Two pairs of dishes of this type
have sold at auction: the first at Christie’s Hong Kong,
1st October 1991, lot 846; the second in the same rooms,
30th May 2005, lot 1470.

$ 80,000-120,000

22 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 PROPERTY FROM THE BARBARA AND LESTER LEVY COLLECTION 23