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Lot Essay
The combination of peaches and five bats is very auspicious, and it is believed by many scholars that vessels with this decoration were made for the celebration of imperial birthdays. The peaches symbolize extended long life through their association with Shoulao, the Star God of the Longevity, and through association with the peaches of longevity grown in the orchard of the Queen Mother of the West. The five red bats (wufu) provide rebuses both for good fortune and for the Five Blessings of longevity, health, wealth, love of virtue, and a peaceful death. When peaches and bats are depicted together, they convey the auspicious phrase fu shou shuang quan (May both blessings and longevity be yours in abundance).
Although eight is the number of peaches most often depicted on large Yongzheng chargers of this type, the current charger is one of the few examples that incorporations nine peaches into the design. Other Yongzheng chargers depicting nine peaches include one in the Qing Court Collection, the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 39 – Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 66, no. 56, and the charger sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 April 2001, lot 546, and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 23 October 2005, lot 434. Yongzheng chargers depicting eight peaches include the example illustrated by R. Scott, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: A Guide to the Collection, London, 1989, p. 107, no. 11; the charger illustrated by J. Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, col. pl. 63; and the charger formerly in the collections of Baron Iwasaki Koyata (1879-1945), Barbara Hutton (1912-1979), and The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, and sold in Gems of Imperial Porcelain from the Private Collection of Joseph Lau; Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29 April 2022, lot 3.
Although eight is the number of peaches most often depicted on large Yongzheng chargers of this type, the current charger is one of the few examples that incorporations nine peaches into the design. Other Yongzheng chargers depicting nine peaches include one in the Qing Court Collection, the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – 39 – Porcelains with Cloisonne Enamel Decoration and Famille Rose Decoration, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 66, no. 56, and the charger sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 April 2001, lot 546, and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 23 October 2005, lot 434. Yongzheng chargers depicting eight peaches include the example illustrated by R. Scott, Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art: A Guide to the Collection, London, 1989, p. 107, no. 11; the charger illustrated by J. Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, col. pl. 63; and the charger formerly in the collections of Baron Iwasaki Koyata (1879-1945), Barbara Hutton (1912-1979), and The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, and sold in Gems of Imperial Porcelain from the Private Collection of Joseph Lau; Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 29 April 2022, lot 3.