YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

This superb dish is a fine example of the technical refinement achieved at the imperial kilns during the Yongzheng reign (1723–1735). The successful production of such exquisitely delicate monochrome porcelains demanded exceptional precision at every stage of manufacture, from potting and glazing to firing. The elegant lemon-yellow enamel, distinguished by its soft pastel tone, was introduced shortly before the Yongzheng period. Derived from lead stannate (a compound of lead and tin), this color was used almost exclusively on small vessels such as cups and dishes, where its purity and luminosity could be most effectively appreciated.

Yongzheng-period lemon-yellow dishes of this lotus form are preserved in a number of important collections. One example from the Percival David Foundation, now in the British Museum, London (acc. no. PDF,A.521), is illustrated in For the Imperial Court: Qing Porcelain from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, New York, 1997, fig. 8. Another is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, and is illustrated in Catalogue of a Special Exhibition of Ch’ing Dynasty Monochrome Porcelains in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 27. A further closely comparable example from the Bruce and Ruth Stricker Dayton Collection, and formerly in the distinguished collection of Forbes, the Lords Clinton, Bowes-Lyon and Somervell families of Fettercairn House, Kincardineshire, was sold at Sotheby’s New York, 22 September 2021, lot 73.