Page 91 - 2019 September 11th Sotheby's Important Chinese Art

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PROPERTY FROM A NORTH AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION and five bats, were the four copper-red designs from the
A PAIR OF COPPER-RED 'FISH' DISHES Xuande reign that were specifically replicated at the Imperial
YONGZHENG MARKS AND PERIOD kilns during the Yongzheng period.
Compare a closely related pair of dishes included in the
each with low, rounded sides set over a slightly tapered Hong Kong Oriental Ceramic Society Exhibition of Chinese
foot, the exterior painted in underglaze copper red with Blue and White Porcelain and Related Underglaze Red, City
three fish swimming gracefully against the white ground, Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, 1975, cat. no. 129;
their tails sweeping gently up and fins extended, the varying a pair sold in these rooms, 23rd March 2011, lot 724; and
blush tones of the copper red enhancing the naturalism, the another sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th November 2011,
interior unadorned, the base with a six-character mark in lot 2949. See also a closely related dish sold in our London
underglaze blue within a double circle (2) rooms, 15th May 2013, lot 232; and another sold at Christie’s
Diameter 6 in., 15.2 cm New York, 24th March 2004, lot 228.
PROVENANCE For the Ming precedent, see a Xuande mark and period stem
Acquired in Hong Kong, 1990. bowl in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
illustrated in Mingdai Xuande guanyao jinghua tezhan tulu/
This sophisticated pair of dishes encapsulates the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te
Yongzheng Emperor’s (r. 1723-35) fervent interest Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, National Palace
in antiquities. The design of three red fish against an Museum, Taipei, 1998, cat. no. 99, together with two similar
undecorated white ground has its roots in the Xuande stem cups of smaller size, cat. nos 81 and 87.
period (r. 1424-25), when a select group of imperial cups,
stem cups and stem bowls embellished with such distinct $ 30,000-50,000
silhouettes were produced. This iconic style of decoration
was rarely used until it was revived in the early Qing dynasty.
According to Taocheng jishi bei [Commemorative Stele on
Ceramic Production] compiled in 1735 by the great Tang 清雍正 釉裏紅三魚紋盤一對
Ying (1682-1756), the most accomplished superintendent of 《大清雍正年製》款
the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in the 18th century, the three
fish decoration, along with three fruits, three lingzhi fungus
來源
購於香港，1990年
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