GUANGXU PERIOD (1875-1908), CHUXIUGONG ZHI HALL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE

The Palace of Gathered Elegance (Chuxiu gong) is located in the northeast of the Six Western Palaces in the Forbidden City, was the residence of concubines in Ming and Qing dynasties. The Empress Dowager Cixi (1835-1908) once lived there and gave birth to Emperor Tongzhi. The porcelain wares with Chuxiugong zhi seal marks were ordered by the Empress Dowager Cixi for her use. According to Ronald W. Longsdorf in "The Tongzhi Imperial Wedding Porcelain", Orientations, October 1996, pp. 69-78, these wares were largely based on Kangxi period prototypes.

Compare to a large yellow-ground green and aubergine enamelled ‘dragon’ dish with Chuxiugong zhi seal mark in the National Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Studies of the Collections of the National Museum of China, Porcelain volume, Shanghai, 2007, p.220, no.147.