Lot Essay
It is very rare to find doucai dishes of this small size with this decoration. Compare with other Yongzheng dishes of the same pattern but larger in size; one is illustrated by R. Kerr, Chinese Ceramics, Porcelain of the Qing Dynasty, 1644-1911, pl.86, and another in the Shanghai Museum of Art, was included in the exhibition, Selected Ceramics from the Collection of Mr and Mrs J.M. Hu, Catalogue, pl.48. Compare also similar examples in the Exhibition of Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Hong Kong, 1973, Catalogue, no.87; another pair was sold in our Hong Kong Rooms, 26 September 1989, lot 740.
Cf. also the example illustrated by Bartholomew, Botanical Puns in Chinese Art from the Collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Orientations, September 1985, pp.18-34, fig.24. The author also explains that the scene depicted invokes the traditional Chinese birthday greeting 'May your happiness be as deep as the Eastern Sea and may you live to be as old as the Southern Mountain'.
Furthermore the Chinese word for bat, fu, is homophonous with the word for happiness; thus the five bats symbolise the five happinesses: old age, wealth, health, love of virtue and a natural death.
Cf. also the example illustrated by Bartholomew, Botanical Puns in Chinese Art from the Collection of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Orientations, September 1985, pp.18-34, fig.24. The author also explains that the scene depicted invokes the traditional Chinese birthday greeting 'May your happiness be as deep as the Eastern Sea and may you live to be as old as the Southern Mountain'.
Furthermore the Chinese word for bat, fu, is homophonous with the word for happiness; thus the five bats symbolise the five happinesses: old age, wealth, health, love of virtue and a natural death.