TWO RARE POWDER-BLUE-GROUND FLORAL DISHES QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD |

each with shallow rounded sides rising from a short tapered foot, the center superbly painted with flowers, one with gnarled magnolia branches bursting with blooms amidst sprays of thoroughwort, the other with grasses and lush lotus blossoms under a pendulous lotus leaf, set within a foliate-form reserve against a mottled blue ground, the reverse with two slender leafing bamboo reeds, the base with a beribboned artemisia leaf within a double circle (2), coll. nos 8 & 9.

Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 1998.

Jeffrey P. Stamen and Cynthia Volk with Yibin Ni, A Culture Revealed: Kangxi-era Chinese Porcelain from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, Bruges, 2017, pl. 42.

Both dishes are in good condition. The rim of the lotus dish is slightly uneven.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The spontaneity and confident brushwork used to depict the flowers on the present dish is exceptional. The washy, textural quality of the leaves and petals evoke the dry brush technique perfected in the Song dynasty. The lavish spattering of deep blue dots add weight and depth to the curling edges of the large lotus leaf. The use of such overtly painterly ink techniques is a highlight of Kangxi period porcelains produced to appeal to the exacting taste of the scholarly elite. A dish of this type, but with underglaze-red and underglaze-blue flora, from the collection of Ernest Grandidier is now in the Musée Guimet, Paris (coll. no. G2478).