Decorated on the exterior with two detached formal lotus sprays alternating with three interlinking lozenges enhanced with foliate motifs, the interior centered with a multi-colored ribbon spiral bordered with inward-pointing petals, the base with a six character Yongzheng mark in a square in underglaze blue and of the period. Hairline sealed. {See "Conservation" on Home page]. 5 7/8 ".
Provenance: New York collection
The dish offered here is rare and unusual. We have been able to locate three others of the same design, only one of which had a six character Yongzheng mark in underglaze blue within a square: Sotheby's London, February 29, 1972, lot 250. Compare another dish of like decoration with a Qianlong mark, Sotheby's Hong Kong, May 20, 1980, lot 140; and one with an apocryphal Chenghua mark, Sotheby's Hong Kong, October 30, 2002, lot 251.
There is a continuing influence on the availability of mark and period 18th C porcelain due to the growing numbers of Mainland Chinese seeking to purchase and return to China their national treasures. To our knowledge only two dishes like the one offered here have surfaced in the last 25 years, and both of them were auctioned in Hong Kong. The future likelihood that another Yongzheng mark and period dish of this design will be offered in the West is ever more problematic.
