DAOGUANG PERIOD (1821-1850), FOUR-CHARACTER SHENDETANG ZHI MARK IN IRON-RED

The Shendetang hall mark is a dedication to the Hall for the Cultivation of Virtue, a summer residence of the Emperor Daoguang, where a range of dedicated fine porcelains was made to furnish this particular hall. See for example a vase decorated with various blossoming sprays emerging from rocks and with the same hall mark, in the Palace Museum, Beijing and illustrated in Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 190.

Compare also to an arm rest similarly decorated with two swallows on a tree and dated to the Guangxu period, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, ibid., pl. 244.