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

Doucai bowls of this type bear two types of reign mark: marks in standard script, which are more frequently found, and marks in an archaistic script, such as on the present bowl, which are much more rare.

It has been noted by Peter Y. K. Lam that certain porcelains with Yongzheng reign marks feature a distinctive qing character, where the first inner stroke of the yue radical is written vertically, rather than horizontally, as is seen on the present bowl. See Peter Y. K. Lam, “Four Studies on Yongzheng and Qianlong Imperial Ware,” published in Ethereal Elegance. Porcelain Vases of the Imperial Qing; The Huaihaitang Collection, Hong Kong, 2007, p. 53. Lam relates this unusual radical to similar inscriptions of the qing character on late Kangxi-period porcelain, and suggests that Yongzheng-marked porcelains with this style of inscription may date from early in the reign period of the new emperor.

A bowl and cover of this pattern, with a Yongzheng standard script mark and of the period, is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 38 - Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 251, no. 230. Another similar bowl and cover in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Qing Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 201, pl. 30. A pair of bowls and covers, formerly in the collection of H.R.H. Prince Henry, The Duke of Gloucester, K.G., K.T., K.P. (1900 - 1974), also with the marks in standard script, was sold at Christie's London, 5 November 2019, lot 173. A bowl without a cover, and with the mark in standard script, sold at Christie’s New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1712; and another bowl from the collection of Stephen Junkunc, III, also without a cover and with the mark in standard script, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2139.