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Lot Essay
Chrysanthemum-shaped dishes appear in a complete series of twelve colours. The most notable set is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, p. 316, no. 145. Six are illustrated by Feng Xianming, Wenwu, 1984, p. 37, no. 10, where the author notes that a decree issued in the eleventh year of Yongzheng (corresponding to A.D. 1733) instructed Nian Xiyao, Minister of the Imperial Household, to send 'twelve colours of chrysanthemum dishes one of each colour, for the inspection of the permanent guardian of the treasury and chief eunuch Samuha'. The decree further mentions 'forty pieces to be fired of every type according to the samples'. As recorded by A.W. Hummel in Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing period, vol. I, pp. 588-590, Nian Xiyao was appointed as a minister of the Imperial Household in 1726, and between 1726-1735, he was in charge of the manufacture of porcelain as well as assuming the post of superintendent of customs at Huaian, Jiangsu province.
It is interesting to compare Qianlong period chrysanthemum dishes with those produced during the Yongzheng reign, the latter have more pointed, less smoothly rounded petals, than those on Qianlong period examples.
It is interesting to compare Qianlong period chrysanthemum dishes with those produced during the Yongzheng reign, the latter have more pointed, less smoothly rounded petals, than those on Qianlong period examples.