A FINE AND RARE PAIR OF FAMILLE-VERTE 'BIRTHDAY' DISHES MARKS AND PERIOD OF KANGXI

each of shallow rounded form supported on a low tapered foot, brilliantly enamelled with a winding branch issuing plump apricots surrounded by verdant leaves furling to reveal their undersides, some depicted with areas of decay and extending beyond the frame in a naturalistic manner, the bird with its layered plumage and alert expression exquisitely rendered with painterly strokes and perched looking into the distance, the auspicious scene of three apricots and a bird encircled by a deftly painted border enclosing the characters wanshou wujiang ('Endless longvity without limit') in the cardinal positions, with florets evenly spaced in between on a diapered ground, the slightly domed base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark within a double-circle

Yamanaka & Co. Ltd.

Nihon Kotoji Shina kobijutsu tenrankai [Exhibition of Japanese and Chinese antiques], Osaka Bijutsu Club, Osaka, 1934, cat. no. 511
Kinsei chūgoku meitō ten: Min matsu · shin chō [Exhibition of Excellent Chinese Ceramics], Shirokiya, Nihonbashi, Tokyo, 1962, pl. 35

The dishes are in fine condition.
"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."

These two dishes with superb painting in attractive and pleasing colours are extremely rare and probably unique to the market in that they form a real pair with identical painting. They belong to a group of very finely potted and painted dishes known as ‘birthday’ dishes, which are believed to have been made for the Kangxi Emperor’s (r. 1662-1722) sixtieth birthday in AD 1713 and are today represented in world-famous collections. These dishes of Kangxi mark and period are all inscribed in the rim border 'wanshou wujiang' or ‘Endless Longevity without Limit’, a phrase reserved for an emperor. They are of the finest quality porcelain, extremely white, thin, and very translucent, and appear faultless, as discussed in Margaret Medley, The Chinese Potter, Oxford, 1976, pp. 243-244. These dishes were probably made under the supervision of Lang Tingji, one of most celebrated supervisors of the imperial kilns in Chinese history, see Peter Y.K. Lam, 'Lang Tingji (1663-1715) and the porcelain of the late Kangxi period', Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 68, 2003-4, p. 40.

'Birthday' dishes are known in very small numbers, but of different sizes and with a variety of designs, depicting either different scenes of the Daoist immortal Magu offering birthday celebrations, a household legend in China, or nature scenes of birds or insects. A few 'birthday' dishes are decorated with the motif of a bird perching on a fruiting branch, like the present lot, but they usually differ remarkably in the posture of the bird and the type of fruit. These two dishes appear to be the only pair of 'birthday' dishes ever offered for sale.

Very few 'birthday' dishes seem to have similar painting to the current pair. One in the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in Peter Lam, ibid., fig. 19A, and one was sold in these rooms, 22nd May 1985, lot 192. The decoration can also be found on smaller (14.4 cm) 'birthday' dishes of which an example in the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics. The World’s Great Collections, vol. 8, Tokyo, 1982, col. pl. 60. Two 'birthday' dishes with a comparable motif of a bird on a fruiting branch are in the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Section 2, London, rev. ed. 1991, nos. 812 and 891, together with a 'birthday' dish with the motif of a pair of swimming mandarin ducks, no. A836, and a fourth example with the Magu motif, no. 890 (unillustrated).

Compare also a 'birthday' dish with an eagle perched on the branch of a fruiting ginkgo tree, illustrated in The Barbara Hutton Collection of Chinese Ceramics, the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu, 1956, cat. pl. VII, and in The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1991, pl. 108, and sold twice in our London rooms, 1st July 1971, lot 182, and 6th April 1976, lot 167, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd November 1996, lot 586; and a 'birthday' dish with insect-on-tree motif, illustrated in Anthony du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, London, 1984, p. 227, fig. 2, and Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1727, and sold at Christie's London, 12th December 1977, lot 198, at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 2002, lot 553, and twice in these rooms, 31st October 2004, lot 103, and 4th April 2012, lot 19.