Page 72 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

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A RARE PINK-GROUND SGRAFFIATO YANGCAI 清乾隆
SAUCER 胭脂紅地軋道洋彩折枝花卉紋盤
SEAL MARK AND PERIOD OF QIANLONG
《大清乾隆年製》款
the shallow rounded sides rising from a slightly tapered
foot, the exterior brightly painted with four floral sprays, all
reserved against a pink enamel ground incised with feathery
scrolls, the interior left plain and the rim gilt, inscribed to the
white base with a six-character seal mark in underglaze blue
11.1 cm, 4⅜ in.
HK$ 800,000-1,200,000
US$ 102,000-153,000

Exquisitely painted with luxuriant flower sprays scattered
around its exterior, this striking saucer belongs a select
group of porcelain produced at the imperial kilns in
Jingdezhen for the Qianlong Emperor in the early years of his
reign. Known as yangcai (Western colours) in Chinese, these
wares were the most valued porcelain at the Qing court and
were particularly admired by the Emperor himself, who had
them displayed in the Qianqinggong (Palace of Heavenly
Purity), his largest private quarters in the inner court of the
Forbidden City.
No closely related dish appears to have been published,
although the motif bears resemblance to a pair of dishes
with floral sprays against a ruby ground, but painted on the
interior with fruit sprays and with a four-character mark in
blue enamel, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included
in the exhibition Stunning Decorative Porcelains from the
Ch’ien-lung Reign, Taipei, 2008, cat. no. 5, together with a
pair of bowls, also with an underglaze-blue seal mark, cat.
no. 1.

70 SOTHEBY ’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART