11 – R1248

Excellent condition, with minute wear.

• From an English private collection.
• Sold by Sotheby’s London in their auction of Chinese Art, 12th May 2021, lot 54.
• Included by Marchant in The Centenary Exhibition, Imperial Porcelain of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, 2025, no. 11, pp. 54-57.
• Included by Stuart Marchant in Marchant – One Hundred Years, Volume II: 2001-2025, p. 454, image no. 1933, p. 461.
• Another of identical shape and size, in pink enamel, from the collection of Thomas English Cody (1889-1948) and the collection of S. Bazini, was sold by Poly, Beijing in their auction of Refined Gathering, Selection of Imperial Porcelain over 93 Years in Three Collections, sold by Marchant 20th June 2018, lot 5894, pp. 80-85.
• It is fascinating to record that every dish of this size, in whatever monochrome colour or enamelled design, appears to have the mark written by the same person.
• A white-glazed dish, also of identical shape and again with the mark written by the same hand, from the Tianminlou Collection is illustrated by Louise Alison Cort and Jan Stuart in Joined Colors, Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain, Ceramics from Collectors in the Minchui Society, Hong Kong, 1993, 40, p. 112; a yellow enamel example of the same shape and size, again with the mark written by the same person is illustrated by John Ayers in Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Volume 2, Geneva, 1999, no. 327 (A486), pp. 222/3; a pair of yellow dishes are illustrated by Claire Déléry in the 2017 exhibition of Porcelaine Chefs-d’Oeuvre de la Collection Ise, Musée Guimet, Paris, no. 68, pp. 186/7.
• The chrysanthemum, juhua, is a symbol of longevity and an important flower. It is the symbol of autumn and the flower of the ninth moon. It is also believed to have health-giving properties, and even today chrysanthemum tea is believed to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. Chrysanthemum-shaped pieces were a particular favourite of the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.