A BLUE RESERVED AND WHITE DECORATED FLORAL DISH MARK AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG

well potted with shallow rounded sides resting on a short foot, the decoration reserved in white against a mottled powder-blue glaze, the interior with gardenia blossoms borne on leafy branches enclosed within a single line border, encircled around the well by further scrolling gardenia blooms below double-line bands, the flower petals and foliage finely detailed with precise slip-trailing to render subtle veining, the underside similarly decorated with gardenia scrolls between double-lines below the rim and a single-line at the foot, inscribed on the base with the six-character mark in underglaze-blue within a double-circle 

Christie's Hong Kong, 28th November 2006, lot 1528.

There are stained burst air bubbles to the white decoration and light surface wear to the interior, but otherwise the dish is in very good condition overall.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A closely related dish in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 248; one in the Shoudu Museum, Beijing is published in Xiong Liao, Beauty of Ceramics: Gems of the Official Kilns, Taipei, 1993, pl. 155; another in the Chang Foundation is included in James Spencer, Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 127; and a fourth dish in the Meiyintang collection is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 843. See also an example sold in our New York rooms, 22^nd March 2001, lot 106; one sold in our London rooms, 11^th June 1991, lot 180; and another sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 2^nd November 1999, lot 584.

This eighteenth-century reverse-decorated design is inspired by the early Ming dishes, which often included a single branch of gardenia in the centre, detached sprays around the well and a continuous flower scroll on the reverse. Compare a Xuande dish with reign mark and of the period, illustrated in Toji Taikei, no. 42, Tokyo, 1975, pl. 15 and p. 129, fig. 15; and another decorated with fruit and flowers in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the exhibition Special Exhibition of Xuande Wares, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1980, cat. no. 82.