Page 22 - Sothebys Imperial Porcelain Private Collection

Powerfully rendered dishes of this magnificent type represent 2000, lot 673, and the second, 8th April 2009, lot 1607; three
the Yongzheng Emperor’s dominion over the land and sea. dishes were sold in our London rooms, the first, 11th December
Used at imperial banquets and on celebratory occasions, such 1984, lot 408, the second, 7th June 2000, lot 126, and the
as the ‘Thousand Elderly Banquets’ held in honour of senior third, 11th May 2011, lot 216; and a seventh dish was sold at
citizens, they were displayed in the presence of thousands of Christie’s New York, 22nd March 2007, lot 336.
guests. Such large imperial dishes reveal both the technical
Dishes of this design were revived under the Yongzheng
accomplishments of Qing dynasty potters and the Manchu
Emperor, who was known to have sent antiques from the
custom of banqueting that closely followed the Mongolian and
palace to Jingdezhen in order to set standards and models
Tibetan traditions of communal dining.
for designs. The combination of a dragon amongst floral
Only a handful of Yongzheng examples of this impressive scrolls appears to be inspired by much smaller dishes from
size and rigorous decoration is known. One similar dish is in the Xuande (1426-1435) period, similarly painted with peony
the collection of Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, gifted by scrolls surrounding three dragons, all of which are side-
Jules Audéoud in 1885 and exhibited in De la Chine aux Arts facing, such as one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
décoratifs: L’art chinois dans les collections du musée des Arts illustrated in A Panorama of Ceramics in the Collection of the
décoratifs [Chinese decorative arts in the collection of Musée National Palace Museum. Hsuan-te Ware I, Taipei, 2000, pl. 2.
des Arts Décoratifs], Paris, 2014, cat. no. 32 (inventory no. Furthermore, the stippled blue dots on the flowers and leaves
2716). were added to evoke the accidental appearance of cobalt-blue
specks characteristic of early Ming blue and white, known as
Another example was sold in our London rooms, 13th
‘heaping and piling’.
December 1988, lot 250, again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 26th
September 1989, lot 651, and a third time in these rooms, The brilliance of Yongzheng potters is evident in their
9th October 2012, lot 27, from the Meiyintang collection; two successful adaptation of the original small composition onto
further dishes were sold in these rooms, the first, 2nd May a considerably larger dish while maintaining its essence.

20 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比