YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

Yongzheng-marked bowls of this pattern are extremely rare and very few examples are known. A virtually identical bowl, also from the K'ung Hsiang-Hsi Collection, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 June 2015, lot 3109. Other examples include a pair sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15 May 1990, lot 286; another pair from the collection of S. C. Davis (1871-1940), sold separately at Sotheby's New York, the first bowl sold on 27 November 1990, lot 190, and the other, sold 26 November 1991, lot 356; and a pair sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29 May 2007, lot 1366. It is interesting to note the unusual stippling effect of the iron red in the portrayal of the ripened peaches on the interior. This technique probably started in the late Kangxi period, and can been seen on the peaches of a Kangxi-marked doucai bowl from the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qingdai Yuyao Ciqi, Beijing, 2005, p. 126, no. 32. During the Yongzheng period, the doucai technique was further enhanced with the addition of the famille rose enamels, enriching the color combinations and texture of the decoration, as exemplified on the current bowl.