Lot Essay
Previously sold in Hong Kong, 27 April 1993, lot 207.
This group of rare dishes typify the delicate elegance of the finest Yongzheng porcelains. Indeed, most scholars agree that these dishes were among the wares made at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen and then sent, undecorated, to the court at Beijing to be inspected and approved, before being given to the imperial ateliers in the palace to be decorated.
Flower forms were regularly adopted with great success by Chinese potters as early as the Song dynasty. In the Yongzheng reign, the chrysanthemum form became especially popular with the court and was produced with a number of monochrome glazes. This form continued to find favour in the succeeding Qianlong period. It is interesting to note that the chrysanthemum form of the current dish has been slightly modified from that seen on monochrome wares. The number of petals has been reduced in a more gently undulating style. Undoubtedly these sensitive modifications were made in order that the form should complement the enamelled decoration without detracting from it.
The peony spray on the interior of the dish is beautifully painted, making skilfull use of the newly developed famille rose palette. The opaque white enamel allowed the decorator to build up and shade the petals of the flowers, when used in conjunction with the clear pink enamel made from colloidal gold. These colours were developed by craftsmen in the imperial workshops during the reigns of the kangxi and Yongzheng emperors. This dish is a testament to their success.
The porcelain decorator of this dish has achieved a particularly pleasing counterpoint between the opaque colours of the flowers and the translucent colours of the leaves. As is often the case on these dishes, the main bloom is a pink peony, but usually the half-opened bud is also pink, and no other coloured flowers are depicted. This decision to restrict the design to a single spray is an extremely efefctive device, which emphasises the purity of the body and leads the eye from the bud to the main flower, producing a dish of great elegance.
The present dish is in having only pink flowers where other examples feature different coloured blooms together with the main pink peony. The most comparable dish in terms of composition and palette is the one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, 1989, p. 223, pl. 52.
An example with a large pink peony and a smaller yellow flower is illustrated by Moss, By Imperial Command, 1976, pl. 64, and again in Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, pl. 96, where both authors note that such dishes were probably made at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen and then sent to the imperial palace workshop in Beijing to be decorated. Cf. also a larger Yongzheng chrysanthemum-shaped dish decorated with a pink peony and an iron-red one amidst other flowers, sold in these Rooms, 27 April 1997, lot 60; and one from the T. Y. Chao Collection, painted with chrysanthemums on the interior medallion, illustrated in the exhibition Catalogue, Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain, no. 92.
(US$154,000-190,000)
This group of rare dishes typify the delicate elegance of the finest Yongzheng porcelains. Indeed, most scholars agree that these dishes were among the wares made at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen and then sent, undecorated, to the court at Beijing to be inspected and approved, before being given to the imperial ateliers in the palace to be decorated.
Flower forms were regularly adopted with great success by Chinese potters as early as the Song dynasty. In the Yongzheng reign, the chrysanthemum form became especially popular with the court and was produced with a number of monochrome glazes. This form continued to find favour in the succeeding Qianlong period. It is interesting to note that the chrysanthemum form of the current dish has been slightly modified from that seen on monochrome wares. The number of petals has been reduced in a more gently undulating style. Undoubtedly these sensitive modifications were made in order that the form should complement the enamelled decoration without detracting from it.
The peony spray on the interior of the dish is beautifully painted, making skilfull use of the newly developed famille rose palette. The opaque white enamel allowed the decorator to build up and shade the petals of the flowers, when used in conjunction with the clear pink enamel made from colloidal gold. These colours were developed by craftsmen in the imperial workshops during the reigns of the kangxi and Yongzheng emperors. This dish is a testament to their success.
The porcelain decorator of this dish has achieved a particularly pleasing counterpoint between the opaque colours of the flowers and the translucent colours of the leaves. As is often the case on these dishes, the main bloom is a pink peony, but usually the half-opened bud is also pink, and no other coloured flowers are depicted. This decision to restrict the design to a single spray is an extremely efefctive device, which emphasises the purity of the body and leads the eye from the bud to the main flower, producing a dish of great elegance.
The present dish is in having only pink flowers where other examples feature different coloured blooms together with the main pink peony. The most comparable dish in terms of composition and palette is the one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, 1989, p. 223, pl. 52.
An example with a large pink peony and a smaller yellow flower is illustrated by Moss, By Imperial Command, 1976, pl. 64, and again in Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, pl. 96, where both authors note that such dishes were probably made at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen and then sent to the imperial palace workshop in Beijing to be decorated. Cf. also a larger Yongzheng chrysanthemum-shaped dish decorated with a pink peony and an iron-red one amidst other flowers, sold in these Rooms, 27 April 1997, lot 60; and one from the T. Y. Chao Collection, painted with chrysanthemums on the interior medallion, illustrated in the exhibition Catalogue, Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain, no. 92.
(US$154,000-190,000)