.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
The Tihedian (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 examples, were designed and produced for several of these palaces. As such, porcelains were usually marked with names 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 porcelain pieces were produced from the Tongzhi or early Guangxu periods under the supervision of the Empress Dowager Cixi.
Compare to a larger pair of jardinieres with rounded sides, similarly decorated with flowers in grisaille on a yellow ground and bearing iron-red Tihedian zhi marks, from the Northrop Grumman Corporation Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 15-16 September 2011, lot 1599. Compare also to a pair of yellow-ground grisaille-decorated jardinieres of similar form, with Dayazhai and Tian Di Yi Jia Chun marks, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2201.
Compare to a larger pair of jardinieres with rounded sides, similarly decorated with flowers in grisaille on a yellow ground and bearing iron-red Tihedian zhi marks, from the Northrop Grumman Corporation Collection, sold at Christie's New York, 15-16 September 2011, lot 1599. Compare also to a pair of yellow-ground grisaille-decorated jardinieres of similar form, with Dayazhai and Tian Di Yi Jia Chun marks, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2201.