Under the Empress Dowager Cixi, special porcelains were designed and produced for the palaces of the Changchungong (Palace of Eternal Spring), namely the Yikungong (Palace of Upholding Earth), the Chuxiugong (Palace of Gathering Excellence) and the Tihedian (Hall of Manifest Harmony). The Chuxiugong was built in the Ming dynasty and restored in the early Qing dynasty, and was the living quarters of the Empress and Imperial Concubines. Cixi lived there during the time of the Tongzhi emperor's birth and around her 50th birthday.

Wares made for the Chuxiugong were often large and monumental, and according to Ronald W. Longsdorf in his article "The Tongzhi Imperial Wedding Porcelain", Orientations, October 1996, pp. 69-78, they were also largely based on prototypes of the Kangxi period. These wares also bear Chuxiugong zhi marks inscribed in a bold archaic script. Two dishes from the Yangzhitang Collection with these same marks were sold in our Singapore Rooms, 30 March 1997, lots 345 and 367.

The technique of incised porcelain is very rare, and another example may be found on a snuff bottle with decoration reminiscent of a Yuan painting, sold in New York, 17 September 1996, lot 224. Hugh Moss discusses this technique found more commonly on glass snuff bottles, where a bottle by the master 'micro-incisor' Zhou Honglai is illustrated The Art fo the Chinese Snuff Bottle, no.406.

(US$20,000-25,000)