A PAIR OF SMALL YELLOW-GROUND GRISAILLE-DECORATED RECTANGULAR JARDINIÈRES AND STANDS

LATE 19TH CENTURY, TIHE DIAN ZHI SEAL MARKS IN IRON-RED TO THE BASES

Details

A PAIR OF SMALL YELLOW-GROUND GRISAILLE-DECORATED RECTANGULAR JARDINIÈRES AND STANDS
LATE 19TH CENTURY, TIHE DIAN ZHI SEAL MARKS IN IRON-RED TO THE BASES
Each jardinière is modelled with an everted rim supported on a slightly tapered body. The exterior is decorated with a combination of prunus, narcissus, lingzhi and nandina berries, and the short sides are decorated with an orchid spray. The rim is decorated with a linked wan-character band above a wave band. The low stand is similarly decorated. Each vessel and stand bears a 'Tihe Dian zhi' seal mark in iron-red to the base.
5 1/8 in. (13 cm.) wide

Provenance

Christie's Paris, 14 December 2011, lot 209.
A private European Collection.

Brought to you by

Samantha Yuen

syuen@christies.com +44 (0)20 7104 5791

Lot Essay

For much of her tenure as Regent to her son, the Tongzhi Emperor, the Empress Dowager Cixi lived in the Tihe Dian (Hall of Manifest Harmony), which was was one of the six palaces in the northwestern sector of the Forbidden City. In 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 her supervision. The combination of narcissus (shuixian), nandina (tianzhu), and lingzhi fungus form the auspicious rebus 'zhixian zhushou', which can be interpreted as a wish for the Heavenly Immortal to give the receiver with birthday blessings.

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