Provenance: New York Collection

For another example of a restored dish identical to this one, including the incised Xuande mark, see Christies London, June 18, 2000, lot 190, where the note states" Monochrome blue porcelains of the Xuande reign are very rare...".

By the time that the Xuande reign began the Imperial kilns were producing a rich cobalt blue glaze that was used to cover the exterior as well as both the interior and exterior of dishes like the one offered here. Ming porcelain had developed certain characteristics relative to the color of the biscuit, the bluish undertone to the glaze on the base after it was fired and the manner in which the foot rim and base often exposed portions of burnt clay. Further, the bases on Xuande dishes were often set deep causing the foot to appear wider than in later Ming and Qing periods.

The reign mark during the Xuande period was both inscribed with a six character Xuande mark in a double circle and written in underglaze blue within a double circle. The dish offered here has a six character Xuande mark incised on the base. The manner in which the mark is written is identical to the way in which the third and fourth characters of the Xuande mark are expected to be written when the piece is of the period. See Liu Liang-yu, "Ming Official Wares", Aires Publishing Gemini Ltd, Taipei, 1991, p. 80,81, where the author comments "There are certain other special features about Hsuan-te [Xuande] reign mark to be noted. Firstly the right-hand side of the [fourth] character ...was written in Ming times ...without the single horizontal stroke in the middle. This was immediately spotted by experienced old collectors, for fakes dating from the Ch'ing dynasty onwards always incorporate this horizontal stroke", p. 80. See also, id. p. 72 for an example of an incised six character Xuande mark on a deep footed bowl identical to the mark on the dish offered here; and another example of a Xuande mark and period dish with a blood red glaze and an identical mark, "Chinese Ceramics, Ming Dynasty", Shanghai Museum Press, 1983, p. 486. In each case, as is so with the dish offered here, the horizontal line on the fourth character is missing as it should be for an authenticated Xuande mark and period porcelain. See Christies New York, December 2, 1993, lot 267 for an example of a saucer dish with a copper red glaze with an incised Xuande six character mark.

In addition to the manner in which the Xuande mark in inscribed, the dish offered here has all of the other characteristics for confirming that it is a Xuande mark and period piece. The color of the glaze; the deepness of the foot and the setback of the base; the bluish undertones of the base glaze; and the burnt color of the exposed biscuit all confirm its period of manufacture.