A RARE PAIR OF AUBERGINE-GLAZED 'POMEGRANATE' DISHES MARKS AND PERIOD OF YONGZHENG |

each delicately incised on the exterior with six fruiting pomegranates borne on a continuous undulating foliate scroll, covered overall with a translucent pale aubergine glaze of purplish-grey tone, the white base inscribed with a six-character mark within a double circle

Collection of Lorant Goldschlager (1900-1990).
Christie's London, 4th/5th June 1973, lot 200.
Roger Keverne, London, Winter 2004.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8th April 2011, lot 3031.

Recent Acquisitions, Important Chinese Porcelain from Private Collections, Marchant, London, 2012, cat. no. 36.

Anthony du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p. 223, pl. 16. 

Very good condition with just minor surface wear and an original firing flaw.
"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."

Although the aubergine glaze colour had been developed already in the Xuande period, it remained very rare until the Qing dynasty, when it became popular mainly for bowls and dishes. The current pair of dishes, incised with pomegranates, is rarer than those with the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems', such as the pair from the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, pl. 892, and sold in these rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 7. Others are illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection Geneva: Chinese Ceramics, Geneva, 1968-74, vol. III, pls A 476 and 477; another pair from the Elphinstone and the Sir Percival David collections, now in the British Museum, London, published in Margaret Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch'ing Monochrome in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1973, nos B 585 and 586; and a single dish included in the exhibition Qingdai danse you ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of monochrome glazed porcelain of the Qing dynasty], National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1981, cat. no. 45. Lorant Goldschlager, born in Hungary in 1900, was a banker who escaped from Hungary in 1939, and lived between London and Monte Carlo. He was passionate about racehorses and Chinese porcelain.