A fine pair of incised aubergine-glazed ‘bajixiang’ dishes, Marks and period of Yongzheng

Sotheby's London, 18th November 1998, lot 963.

Sotheby's London, 6th November 2013, lot 312.

A pair of aubergine-glazed 'bajixiang' dishes of this size from the Sir Percival David Collection is preserved in the British Museum, London, and published in Rosemary Scott, Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch’ing Monochrome Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1973, cat. nos B585 and B586; and another pair is illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, vol. III, Geneva, 1972, cat. nos A476 and A477, where the author notes that dishes of this type were included in the list of porcelains supplied to the court, compiled by Tang Ying in 1729. Further examples are in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, exhibited in Qingdai Danseyou Ciqi  [Special Exhibition of Monochrome Glazed Porcelain of the Qing dynasty], Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 45; and were included in Monochrome Ceramics of Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1977, cat. no. 31. Compare also a pair from the collection of Henry Goldschmidt, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 13th November 1990, lot 69, together with two further pairs sold in the same rooms, 8th October 2014, lot 3606, and 8th April 2014, lot 3080.