A Wucai 'Fish' dish. Qing dynasty, Kangxi period - Photo Sotheby's
the rounded sides supported on a short foot, painted to the interior with a medallion enclosing two iron-red fish swimming in a lotus pond, surrounded by five other fish amongst waterweeds and other aquatic plants on the well, the decoration repeated to the exterior, inscribed to the base with an apocryphal six-character Jiajing mark within a double-circle; 21cm., 8 1/4 in. Estimation: 50,000 - 70,000 GBP. Unsold
PROVENANCE: A Private English Collection.
NOTE DE CATALOGUE: Wucai dishes of this type are relatively rare; see one in the Shanghai Museum, also with an apocryphal Jiajing mark, illustrated in Kangxi Porcelain Ware, Shanghai Museum, 1998, pl. 178 together with another but with a the mark zai chuan zhi le (Discovering joy in the river (by fish)), pl. 179; two in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, also with the zai chuan zhi le inscription, published in Qingdai taoci daquan, Taipei, 1986, pp 116 and 117; another from the Qing Court collection and still in Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 134; and a pair sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 2966.
The design is based on a Jiajing prototype, as seen on a dish in the National Palace Museum, included in Good Fortune, Long Life, Health and Peace. A Special Exhibition of Porcelains with Auspicious Design, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995, cat. no. 71; and a related example from the Sir Percival David collection, now in the British Museum, London, published in Stacey Pierson, Designs as Signs. Decoration and Chinese Ceramics, London, 2001, pl. 7.
Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. London | 07 nov. 2012 www.sothebys.com