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Lot Essay
No other dish of this rare design appears to have been published.
The dish was made in the last years of the Kangxi reign, as there are small traces of famille rose enamels used in the shading of the peaches and the yellow poppy. The use of the pink enamel seems to still be in the experimental stage, while the more predominant famille verte enamels are more confidently applied.
The combination of decoration is very unusual as most Kangxi-period wares are more restrained in design. No other piece appears to have this arrangement of flowers, butterflies and fruit, but the individual design elements can be seen on other wares from this period. For example, the branch of small red berries appears on a few Kangxi guoqiang bowls and dishes, such as the Chenghua-marked dishes, one from the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 100; and another from the Paul and Helen Bernat Collection, sold in Hong Kong, 15 November 1988, lot 20. Compare also a Chenghua-marked Kangxi dish with butterflies amidst sprays of the sanduo, illustrated by M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain, London, 1987, pl. 94; and a Kangxi-marked dish from the Palace Museum, Beijing, depicted with butterflies beside a central sprig of red and yellow plums on the interior and berries on the exterior, illustrated in The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum - Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 42.
The dish was made in the last years of the Kangxi reign, as there are small traces of famille rose enamels used in the shading of the peaches and the yellow poppy. The use of the pink enamel seems to still be in the experimental stage, while the more predominant famille verte enamels are more confidently applied.
The combination of decoration is very unusual as most Kangxi-period wares are more restrained in design. No other piece appears to have this arrangement of flowers, butterflies and fruit, but the individual design elements can be seen on other wares from this period. For example, the branch of small red berries appears on a few Kangxi guoqiang bowls and dishes, such as the Chenghua-marked dishes, one from the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Wares, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 100; and another from the Paul and Helen Bernat Collection, sold in Hong Kong, 15 November 1988, lot 20. Compare also a Chenghua-marked Kangxi dish with butterflies amidst sprays of the sanduo, illustrated by M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain, London, 1987, pl. 94; and a Kangxi-marked dish from the Palace Museum, Beijing, depicted with butterflies beside a central sprig of red and yellow plums on the interior and berries on the exterior, illustrated in The Complete Treasures of the Palace Museum - Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 42.