A Chinese Imperial porcelain wucai saucer dish. Six-character mark of Jiajing within a double ring in underglaze blue, Kangxi,

A Chinese Imperial porcelain wucai saucer dish.  Six-character mark of Jiajing within a double ring in underglaze blue, Kangxi, 1662-1722. Courtesy Marchant

painted in the centre with two iron-red carp, one leaping from the water and the other swimming beneath, all amongst lotus leaves, flowers, arrowhead, grasses and aquatic plants, encircled by an underglaze-blue double ring, the cavetto with four further carp and a mandarin fish amongst dense aquatic plants, flowerheads and grasses, beneath an underglaze-blue double line at the rim, the underside similarly painted. 8 ¼ inches, 20.9 cm  diameter. Price on request

Formerly in a private English collection.

An identical dish is illustrated by Wang Qingzheng in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, no. 178, p. 272.

Marchant  120 Kensington Church Street, London, United Kingdom W8 4BH. www.marchantiques.com