QIANLONG SIX-CHARACTER SEAL MARKS IN IRON RED AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Quardrilobed trays of this type are usually found decorated with an imperial poem by the emperor Jiaqing extolling the pleasure of drinking tea, and with a Jiaqing seal mark. The decoration is either in blue and white with an underglaze blue seal mark or in famille rose and iron red, with the mark in iron red. A pair of the famille rose examples was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 April 2015, lot 3119, and a blue and white example was sold at Christie's New York, 13-14 September 2018, lot 1378. A Jiaqing-marked tray of this shape with turquoise ground and famille rose decoration arranged in a manner similar to that on the present trays, is illustrated by G. Avitabile, From the Dragon's Treasure, London, 1987, p. 25, pl. 12. This tray also has an iron-red seal mark surrounded by a turquoise ground.