TIHEDIAN ZHI HALL MARK IN IRON RED, TONGZHI/GUANGXU PERIOD (1862-1908)

The Tihedian zhi (Hall of Manifest Harmony) was one of the six palaces in the northwestern sector of the Forbidden City where the Empress Dowager Cixi lived during much of her tenure as Regent to her son, Emperor Tongzhi (see R. Longsdorf, 'The Imperial Tongzhi Wedding Porcelain', Orientations, October 1996, pp. 67-70). Special porcelains, such as the present boxes, were designed and produced for several of these palaces. As such, porcelains were usually marked with the name of their palace designation. In another article by R. Longsdorf, 'Dayazhai Ware: Empress Dowager Porcelain', Orientations, March 1992, p. 56, the author writes that such porcelains were produced from the Tongzhi or early Guangxu periods under the supervision of the Empress Dowager Cixi.
A pair of large grisaille-decorated yellow-ground jardinières with the same hall mark written in iron red in a line was sold at Christie's New York, 15-16 September 2011, lot 1599.