Page 62 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art NYC September 2023

Tiandi Yijiachun was the name of a palace located within Compare a closely related example, from the Palace
the Yuanming yuan gardens, where Cixi resided as Empress Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Yang Ou, Xi Wenjun
during the reign of the Xianfeng Emperor (1850-1861). eds.,Yutang jiaqi. Wanqing gongting dihou yongci [Exquisite
Dayazhai was the title given to the art studio within this treasures of the imperial court. Porcelain for the Emperor
palace. During the Tongzhi period (1861-1875), there were and Empress of the late Qing dynasty], Beijing, 2022, pl. 33;
plans to reconstruct the garden complex, which likely another example, with birds and flower design, illustrated
prompted the commissioning of porcelain with these in Chen Kelun, ‘Huafan jinse yongqing Changchun. Cixi
marks. The reconstruction was left incomplete due to he ta de yuyong ciqi [Flourishing blossoms and splendid
financial constraints, with only a partial renovation being colors. Cixi and her imperial porcelain]’, Forbidden City,
accomplished, known as Yihe yuan. See a photograph September 2019, p. 121.
showing a similar fishbowl placed in the Chuxiu Palace,
illustrated in Ronald W. Longsdorf, ‘Dayazhai Ware.
Porcelains of the Empress Dowager’, Orientations,
March 1992, fig. 6, p. 48.

The interior of the Palace of Gathered Elegance (Chuxiugong)
儲秀宮内景
120 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11275 THE LEGACY OF CIXI. LATE QING PORCELAIN FROM THE BARBARA JEAN LEVY COLLECTION 121