Page 62 - Sotheby's Chinese Art and Porcelain Auction New York September 12, 2018

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PROPERTY FROM A NORTH AMERICAN This sophisticated pair of dishes encapsulates Compare a closely related pair of dishes
PRIVATE COLLECTION the Yongzheng emperor’s (r. 1723-35) fervent included in the Hong Kong Oriental Ceramic
interest in antiquities. The design of three red Society Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White
A PAIR OF COPPER-RED ‘FISH’
Þ sh against an undecorated white ground has Porcelain and Related Underglaze Red, City
DISHES
its roots in the Xuande period (r. 1424-25), Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 1975, cat.
YONGZHENG MARKS AND PERIOD when a select group of imperial cups, stem no. 129; a pair sold in these rooms, 23rd March
cups and stem bowls embellished with such 2011, lot 724; and another sold at Christie’s
each with low, rounded sides set over a slightly
distinct silhouettes were produced. This iconic Hong Kong, 30th November 2011, lot 2949. See
tapered foot, the exterior painted in underglaze
style of decoration was rarely used until it was also a closely related dish sold in our London
copper red with three Þ sh swimming gracefully
revived in the early Qing dynasty. According rooms, 15th May 2013, lot 232; and another
against the white ground, their tails sweeping
to Taocheng jishi bei [Commemorative Stele sold at Christie’s New York, 24th March 2004,
gently up and Þ ns extended, the varying
on Ceramic Production] compiled in 1735 by lot 228.
blush tones of the copper red enhancing the
the great Tang Ying (1682-1756), the most
naturalism, the interior unadorned, the base For the Ming precedent, see a Xuande mark
accomplished superintendent of the imperial
with a six-character mark in underglaze blue and period stem bowl in the collection of the
kiln at Jingdezhen in the 18th century, the
within a double circle (2) National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in
three Þ sh decoration, along with three fruits,
Diameter 6 in., 15.2 cm Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/
three lingzhi fungus and Þ ve bats, were the four
Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected
copper-red designs from the Xuande reign that
PROVENANCE Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming
were speciÞ cally replicated at the imperial kilns
Acquired in Hong Kong, 1990. Dynasty, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1998,
during the Yongzheng period.
cat. no. 99, together with two similar stem cups
$ 60,000-80,000 of smaller size, cat. nos 81 and 87.
㶭晵㬋ġġġ慱塷䲭ᶱ欂䲳䚌ᶨ⮵
˪⣏㶭晵㬋⸜墥˫㫦
Ը๕
岤㕤楁㷗炻1990⸜
60 SOTHEBY’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART