Lot Essay
The original design for this planter is preserved in the Palace Archives in Beijing, and the design is illustrated by Guo Xingkuan and Wang Guangyao, in Guanyang Yuci: Gugong bowuyuan cang Qingdai zhici guanyang yu Yuyao (Official Designs and Imperial Porcelain: The Palace Museum's Collection of Official Porcelain Designs and Porcelains from Imperial Kilns of the Qing Dynasty), Forbidden City Publishing, Beijing, 2007, p. 174, no. 34. Interestingly, the yellow note accompanying the design sketch says that four pairs of this design were made with yellow ground, four with purple ground, and four with white ground. It is possible, therefore, that the current planter may have been a sample piece, testing out the three different coloured grounds.