Page 64 - Important Chinese Art, Sotheby's London May 15 2019

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A YELLOW-GROUND UNDERGLAZE The Qianlong Emperor’s admiration for the
BLUE ‘NINE PEACHES’ DISH celebrated wares of the early Ming dynasty is
QIANLONG SEAL MARK AND PERIOD reflected in the design of this dish. The motif
of fruiting peaches was first devised during the
painted to the centre with a medallion with Yongle period and became a recurrent motif on
gnarled leafy branches issuing nine peaches in porcelains of the Qing dynasty because of its
inky tones of cobalt-blue, all within a double-line association with longevity. Although the decora-
border repeated below the rim, the exterior tion on this dish is a Qianlong reinterpretation of
with an undulating leafy scroll bearing flowering a motif that first appeared in the Yongle period
morning glory buds and blooms, all reserved of the Ming dynasty, it is intentionally painted in
against a brilliant yellow ground, the yellow the Ming style with the characteristic ‘heaping
base inscribed with a six-chararacter seal mark and piling’ effect to evoke the Ming prototypes.
in underglaze blue within a white cartouche Similarly, the attractive contrasting palette of
26.7 cm, 10½ in.
underglaze blue and vibrant yellow first ap-
PROVENANCE peared on porcelain during the Xuande reign of
the Ming dynasty, but continued to be produced
T.T. Tsui Collection, Hong Kong. throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 2nd December 2015,
lot 3214. Dishes of this type are held in important private
and museum collections worldwide; a dish in the
LITERATURE National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated
The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV, in Blue and White Ware of the Ch’ing Dynas-
Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 90. ty, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1968, pl. 29; another
example in the Nanjing Museum, is published
£ 30,000-50,000 in The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing
HK$ 308,000-515,000 US$ 39,300-65,500 Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 221; and a third
from the Yokogawa collection, is published in
清乾隆 黃地青花九桃紋大盤 the Illustrated Catalogues of the Tokyo National
《大清乾隆年製》款 Museum. Chinese Ceramics II, Tokyo, 1965, pl.
625. Compare also with a further pair of yel-
low-ground dishes of this type painted with this
來源 design, from the T.Y. Chao collection, included
徐展堂收藏，香港 in the exhibition Ch’ing Porcelain from the Wah
香港佳士得2015年12月2日，編號3214 Kwong Collection, Chinese University of Hong
出版 Kong, Hong Kong, 1974, cat. no. 45, and sold in
《徐氏藝術館．陶瓷篇IV．清代》， our Hong Kong rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 316.
香港，1995年，圖版90

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62 Buyers are liable to pay both the hammer price (as estimated above) and the buyer’s premium together with any applicable taxes and Artist’s Resale Right (which will depend on the individual circumstanc-
es). Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.