GUANGXU FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN IRON-RED AND OF THE PERIOD (1875-1908)

The combination of magpies amidst plum blossoms alludes to the rebus Sixi shangmei (Four magpies settle on the branches of the plum tree), a homonym for 'May four-fold joy shine on you'. A bowl with similar decoration is illustrated in G. Avitabile, From the Dragon's Treasure: Chinese Porcelain from the 19th and 20th Centuries in the Weishaupt Collection, London, 1987, p. 113, no. 163.