Lot Essay
The inscription on the base of these four dishes, De Cheng Zhai zhi, may be translated as 'Made for the Studio of Virtue and Honesty', and appears on porcelains ranging in date from the Qianlong to the Daoguang reigns. Geng Baochang notes in Ming Qing ciqi jianding, Beijing, 1993, p. 384, the appearance of the De Cheng Zhai mark on a dish from the Qianlong period decorated with grisaille landscapes.