Lot Essay
It is exceptionally rare to find dishes of this design with Kangxi marks. Such dishes are more commonly found inscribed with the four-character mark Zai chuan Zhi le, (Rejoicing in the stream), and include an example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 38 - Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colors, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 146, no. 134; in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, p. 273, no. 179; in the Jingguantang Collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 5 November 1997, lot 875; and the pair sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 11 April 2008, lot 2966. Kangxi-period dishes of this design with apocryphal Jiajing marks are also known, and include one in the Shanghai Museum, Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, op. cit., p. 272, no. 178, and the pair sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 27 May 2008, lot 1758.