A fine Crimson-Pink saucer. Mark and period of Yongzheng

A fine Crimson-Pink saucer. Mark and period of Yongzheng. Photo Sotheby's

delicately potted with shallow rounded sides, rising from a slightly recessed base and a tapering foot, brightly glazed on the exterior with an intense crimson-pink enamel, the interior and the base left in white with a six-character mark inscribed in underglaze blue on the base; 14.7 cm., 5 3/4 in. Estimate 1,200,000—1,500,000 HKD. Lot Sold 1,580,000 HKD

PROVENANCE: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th November 1979, lot 338.

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. 195.

LITERATURE AND REFERENCES: Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 915.

NOTE: Dishes of this wonderful colour are exceedingly rare. A similar pair from the E.T. Hall collection was sold in these rooms 2nd May 2000, lot 547 and again 10th April 2006, lot 1625; another single dish 1st November 1994, lot 101. A slightly smaller dish with this enamel colour, with a square reign mark, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is published in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 256.

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