A fine pair of small lemon-yellow saucers. Marks and period of Yongzheng

A fine pair of small lemon-yellow saucers. Marks and period of Yongzheng. Photo Sotheby's

each of shallow form with a slightly recessed centre and a narrow foot, covered in a bright lemon-yellow enamel with the base left white and inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue; 7.7 cm., 3 in. Estimate 200,000—300,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,040,000 HKD

EXHIBITED: Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, The British Museum, London, 1994.
Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection/Evolution vers la perfection. Céramiques de Chine de la Collection Meiyintang, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 191.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 909.

NOTE: Similar saucers from the Elphinstone collection are preserved in the Sir Percival David Collection in the British Museum, London, see Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Qing Monochrome Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1989, nos B 543-4; one of a pair is also illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Geneva, 1999, vol. 2, pl. 330.

A similar pair of saucers from the Bernat collection was sold in these rooms 15th November 1988, lot 60; a pair from the Goldschmidt collection, later in The Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, illustrated in The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics IV: Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 29, was sold in these rooms 13th November 1990, lot 67; a pair from the collection of J.M. Hu was sold in our New York rooms, 23rd September 1995, lot 429; and a single one from the Toguri collection in our London rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 6.

Sotheby's. The Meiyintang Collection - An Important Selection of Imperial Chinese Porcelains. 07 Apr 11. Hong Kong www.sothebys.com