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Lot Essay
This pair of delightful dishes are decorated with sprays of chrysanthemum against a rich ruby-red ground. The petals are vividly detailed in white and pale yellow at the centre, while the leaves are picked out in turquoise and lime green.
The ruby-red enamel was originally developed in Europe, but Chinese craftsmen made significant improvements through reducing the proportion of colloidal gold and the amount of tin, which symbolised a breakthrough development. According to the Qing court archives, on the 8th day of the 9th month in the Yongzheng 10th year (1732), the Enamel Workshop records: “A total of nine pairs of painted enamel ‘chrysanthemum’ dishes, bowls, tea cups, and wine cups were produced and presented to the emperor”. The present pair of dishes is presumably one of the dishes documented in the records.
A pair of similar ‘chrysanthemum’ dishes can be found in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain with Painted Enamels of Qing Yongzheng Period (1723-1735), Taipei, 2013, no.9, collection number: guci 17107, 17108 (fig. 1); and a slightly larger one was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, The Imperial Sale, 1 June 2011, lot 3649.
A related ruby-red ground Yongzheng-marked dish but enamelled with bamboo from the National Palace Museum, is recorded in Special Exhibition of Ch’ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, Taipei, 1992, p.197, no.99; and a pair enamelled with prunus is illustrated op.cit., pp.42-43, no. 11.
The ruby-red enamel was originally developed in Europe, but Chinese craftsmen made significant improvements through reducing the proportion of colloidal gold and the amount of tin, which symbolised a breakthrough development. According to the Qing court archives, on the 8th day of the 9th month in the Yongzheng 10th year (1732), the Enamel Workshop records: “A total of nine pairs of painted enamel ‘chrysanthemum’ dishes, bowls, tea cups, and wine cups were produced and presented to the emperor”. The present pair of dishes is presumably one of the dishes documented in the records.
A pair of similar ‘chrysanthemum’ dishes can be found in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain with Painted Enamels of Qing Yongzheng Period (1723-1735), Taipei, 2013, no.9, collection number: guci 17107, 17108 (fig. 1); and a slightly larger one was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, The Imperial Sale, 1 June 2011, lot 3649.
A related ruby-red ground Yongzheng-marked dish but enamelled with bamboo from the National Palace Museum, is recorded in Special Exhibition of Ch’ing Dynasty Enamelled Porcelains of the Imperial Ateliers, Taipei, 1992, p.197, no.99; and a pair enamelled with prunus is illustrated op.cit., pp.42-43, no. 11.