CHINA, QING DYNASTY, YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

The emblems of the Eight Daoist Immortals provide the decoration on this bowl and each is tied with a fluttering ribbon. Each ribbon is painted in two tones in a style that is reminiscent of the fluttering scarves in Buddhist art of the Tang dynasty (AD 618-907). Each emblem shown is the object which each immortal habitually carries, and with which they are associated. The interior of the bowl is decorated with a spray of peaches, symbolizing Shoulao, the god of Longevity, who is often seen accompanying the Eight Daoist Immortals.
A pair of Yongzheng bowls, formerly in the T. Y. Chao Collection, bearing the same design as the current bowl, was included in the exhibition, Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Art Gallery of the Chinese University, Hong Kong, 1973, no. 89. Another Yongzheng example is illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art - Chinese Ceramics IV, Qing Ceramics, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 139. Yongzheng bowls with this design have also been sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30 October 2000, lot 164, and 31 October 2004, lot 108.