QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

Famille rose enamels were first incorporated into the doucai palette during the Yongzheng period, their range of transparent, translucent and opaque colours, stand in strong contrast to the cobalt-blue contours, creating an unprecedented visual interplay both rich in colour and texture. During the Qianlong period, the production of doucai wares was taken to new heights, bringing more elaborate designs that required exceptionally high level of painting and enamelling. The present basin is a wonderful example that testifies to such technical dexterity and artistic sophistication. The outlines of the design had been meticulously painted in underglaze blue with a very complex but well-balanced composition, famille rose enamels were then painstakingly filled in with great precision, and the addition of gilt highlights, which was new to the doucai palette until this stage, further endows the colourful and much textured picture with resplendence.

No other examples of this exact design appears to have been published, but one unmarked basin decorated with the Eight Daoist Treasures in doucai and famille rose was sold in Sotheby's Hong Kong, 7 May 2002, lot 533, which is closely associated with the current example both in terms of its shape and decorative techniques.