A Small Yellow-Ground Green-Enamelled and Underglaze-Blue Dish Yongzheng Mark and Period

the shallow rounded sides rising from a short foot to a lipped rim, the central medallion enclosing a meandering composite floral scroll repeated at the well, encircled with a green-enamelled classic scroll band at the rim, the exterior similarly decorated, within green-enamelled keyfret and a classic scroll bands, all reserved on a bright yellow ground, the white base inscribed with a six-character Yongzheng mark within a double circle

Christie's New York, 3rd June 1993, lot 275.

The dish is generally in good conditon, but there is a small hairline crack to the rim (8mm).
"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."

The present dish is especially fine for its striking combination of blue, yellow and green enamels  and for the perfectly arranged Ming-style flower scroll design painted in the characteristic ‘heaping and piling’ technique. Yongzheng dishes of this small size and design are rare, although a closely related example, but of much larger dimensions, from the Riesco collection, was sold in these rooms, 11^th December 1984, lot 383, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 8^th October 1990, lot 360. Another dish of this form and decoration was sold in our New York rooms, 5^th June 1985, lot 309; and a third was sold at Christie’s New York, 3^rd December 1992, lot 341. See also a bowl decorated with a similar design, with a Yongzheng reign mark and of the period, published in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. 4, Geneva, 1975, pl. A 575.

This dish recalls the past in many ways. The design is copying one of the most striking decorative innovations of early fifteenth century wares, the flower scroll motif found on Yongle period blue-and-white dishes. For example, see a dish in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, included in the museum’s exhibition Blue and White, Chicago, 1985, cat. no. 22, where the author notes that vessels  of this type were widely  exported to the Near East and that their influence can be seen in Persia, Syria and Egypt. Another Yongle dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Dynasty Porcelain, vol. 1, Taipei, 1977, cat. no. 37; one in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, pl. 602; and a dish formerly in the Ardebil Shrine and now in the Iran Bastan Museum, Teheran, is published in Oriental Ceramics. The World’s Great Collections, vol. 4, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 189.  

The use of underglaze-blue design on a striking yellow ground, as seen here, is also inspired by early Ming vessels; for example see a Xuande mark and period dish in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Minji meihin zuroku, vol. 2, Tokyo, 1977, pl. 99, painted with a leafy gardenia branch in deep cobalt blue in the centre surrounded by fruiting branches around the well all reserved on a brilliant clear yellow enamel ground. The use of green in the composition is likely to be a Yongzheng period innovation where the Qing artist has added a contemporary touch to the piece.