HONGZHI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1488-1505)

Monochrome yellow-enamelled porcelain was first successfully fired during the early Ming dynasty. Reserved strictly for imperial court use and ancestral rituals, yellow wares reached their aesthetic and technical zenith during the Hongzhi period (1488–1505). Due to the unforgiving nature of this low-fired iron-based enamel, the irregularity or flaw in firing would result in rejection and destruction at the imperial kiln. The present dish is very rare for its smooth, luminous, and even enamel, which places it among the finest surviving examples of the period.

Yellow-enamelled Hongzhi dishes of this supreme quality are preserved in major institutional collections, see one in the Palace Museum, Taipei, collection no.: guci002902N; another in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Monochrome Porcelain, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 44, no. 39. Compare also two closely related examples, almost identical in size, one from the collection of Mr. Hikonobu lse (b.1929), sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 September 2025, lot 5048; and another from the Leshantang Collection, 9 April 2024, lot 126.