Page 156 - Sotheby's Important Chinese Art, Sept. 21-22, 2-21, NYC

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A PAIR OF YELLOW-GROUND GREEN- PROVENANCE
ENAMELED ‘DRAGON’ DISHES Sotheby’s New York, 22nd March 2001, lot 126.
SEAL MARKS AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG For similar dishes of this design, compare one included in
the exhibition Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong
each with shallow curved sides rising from a tapered foot
to a scalloped rim, the interior decorated with a central Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1992, cat. no. 155, and another
medallion enclosing an incised and green-enameled frontal exhibited in Ch’ing Porcelain From the Wah Kwong Collection,
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1973, cat. no.
five-clawed dragon, the cavetto further enameled with two
striding dragons each chasing a ‘flaming pearl’ amidst floral 41. Examples at auction include a pair sold in our Hong Kong
sprays, the exterior with eight floral sprays, the rim and foot rooms, 3rd October 2018, lot 3650, and two sold in these
outlined in black enamel, the white base inscribed with a six- rooms, 18th-19th March 2014, lots 437 and 438.
character seal mark (2) A Kangxi mark and period prototype is published in Wang
Diameter 5 in., 12.7 cm Qingzheng, Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai
Museum Collection, Shanghai, 1998, pl. 199.
$ 40,000-60,000
清乾隆 黃地綠彩趕珠龍紋花口小盤一對
《大清乾隆年製》款
來源：
紐約蘇富比2001年3月22日，編號126
152 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N10748
A YELLOW-GROUND UNDERGLAZE-BLUE ‘NINE Dishes of this type are held in important private and
PEACHES’ DISH museum collections worldwide. One in the National Palace
SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the
Ch’ing Dynasty, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1968, pl. 29; another in
the interior painted in inky cobalt blue with a medallion the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, is published in Treasures
enclosing nine peaches borne on gnarled leafy branches, in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese
the succulent ripe peaches and furled leaves accented by Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 221; and a third from
simulated ‘heaping and piling’ of the cobalt, all within a the Yokogawa Collection, is published in the Illustrated
double-line border repeated at the rim, the exterior with Catalogues of the Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics
an undulating leafy scroll bearing morning glory buds II, Tokyo, 1965, pl. 625. See also a pair from the T. Y. Chao
and blooms, all reserved against a brilliant lemon-yellow Collection, included in the exhibition Ch’ing Porcelain from
ground, the similarly-enameled yellow base inscribed with the Wah Kwong Collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong,
an underglaze-blue six-character seal mark within a white Hong Kong, 1973, cat. no. 45, and sold in our Hong Kong
cartouche rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 316.
Diameter 10⅝ in., 27 cm For examples of Xuande-period predecessors, see four
broken dishes decorated with various fruit and flower motifs,
PROVENANCE
excavated from the imperial kiln site at Jingdezhen, included
Marchant, London, 22nd March 2001. in the exhibition Jingdezhen chutu Ming Xuande guanyao ciqi
This dish reveals the Qianlong Emperor’s admiration for the / Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang
celebrated wares of the early Ming dynasty. The motif of Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. nos 78-2, 82-2, 85-3 and 88.
fruiting peaches was first devised during the Yongle period
and became a favorite motif of the Qing emperors because $ 50,000-70,000
of its association with longevity. Although the decoration on
this dish is a Qianlong-era reinterpretation, it is intentionally 清乾隆 黃地青花九桃紋盤
painted in the Ming style with the characteristic ‘heaping and
piling’ effect, evoking the iconic porcelains of the previous 《大清乾隆年製》款
dynasty. Similarly, the attractive contrasting palette of blue
and yellow first appeared on porcelain during the Xuande 來源：
reign, but continued to be produced throughout the Ming 馬錢特，倫敦，2001年3月22日
and Qing dynasties.
IMPORTANT CHINESE ART FROM THE COLLECTION OF BRUCE DAYTON AND RUTH STRICKER DAYTON 153