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Lot Essay
A nearly identical dish is in the Rijksmusuem, Amsterdam, and is illustrated by Christiaan J.A. Jörg in Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties, London, 1997, p. 127, no. 130, where the author notes that the orchid is the symbol of friendship, love and beauty.
The depiction of a single, elegant lady appears to have become a popular subject in all mediums in the Kangxi period, whether depicting a specific individual or a general 'beauty'. For a blue and white saucer dish bearing a Kangxi mark and painted with a large central image of Chang-E, see S. Marchant & Son, Exhibition of Seventeenth-Century Blue and White and Copper-Red and their Predecessors, London, 1997, p. 59, no. 48. Scroll paintings can also be found, possibly inspired by the famous Twelve Beauties at Leisure Painted for Prince Yinzhen. See an example by Zhang Zhen, 17th century, depicting a lady standing by a window holding a fan, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 6 July 2003, lot 425.(fig. 1)
The depiction of a single, elegant lady appears to have become a popular subject in all mediums in the Kangxi period, whether depicting a specific individual or a general 'beauty'. For a blue and white saucer dish bearing a Kangxi mark and painted with a large central image of Chang-E, see S. Marchant & Son, Exhibition of Seventeenth-Century Blue and White and Copper-Red and their Predecessors, London, 1997, p. 59, no. 48. Scroll paintings can also be found, possibly inspired by the famous Twelve Beauties at Leisure Painted for Prince Yinzhen. See an example by Zhang Zhen, 17th century, depicting a lady standing by a window holding a fan, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 6 July 2003, lot 425.(fig. 1)