YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN DOUBLE-CIRCLES AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

Bowls of this design are unusual as they depart from the usual convention of only having green-enamelled decorative elements on a yellow ground. Vessels with various coloured enamels on yellow ground are referred in the imperial archives as 'a new category of wucai', an innovation of the Yongzheng period. In both cases, however, the designs were incised for crisper detail.
Examples of Yongzheng bowls decorated with this pattern include one from the Constantinidi Collection, illustrated by S. Jenyns, Later Chinese Porcelain, 1971, pl. LXIX, no. 3; one in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Kangxi Yongzheng Qianlong, 1989, p. 238, pl. 67; and various others sold at auction, such as one from the British Rail Pension Fund, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 16 May 1989, lot 78, then again at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 April 2001, lot 545.