A PAIR OF COPPER-RED 'THREE FISH' DISHES

Yongzheng six-character marks and of the period

Footnotes

Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價

清雍正 釉裡紅三魚紋盤一對
青花「大清雍正年製」楷書款

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, 26 November 1980, lot 317
Sotheby's London, 7 June 1994, lot 373
An important European private collection

來源：香港蘇富比，1980年11月26日，拍品編號317
倫敦蘇富比，1994年6月7日，拍品編號373
歐洲重要私人收藏

This elegant pair of dishes reflects the keen interest of the Yongzheng Emperor in antiquities. The design features three red fish set against an unadorned white background, a motif originating from the Xuande period (1426-1435). During this earlier period, a select collection of Imperial cups, stem cups, and stem bowls showcased distinctive silhouettes with similar red fish decoration. Although this iconic style fell into relative obscurity, it experienced a revival in the early Qing dynasty. As documented in the Taocheng jishi bei (Commemorative Stele on Ceramic Production) compiled in 1735 by the renowned superintendent of the Imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, Tang Ying (1682-1756), the three-fish motif, along with three fruits, three lingzhi fungus, and five bats, were among the four copper-red designs from the Xuande reign that were intentionally reproduced at the Imperial kilns during the Yongzheng period. For the Ming prototype of this bowl, see the Xuande-marked example illustrated in Exhibition of Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1989, no.75.

For a pair of very similar dishes, Yongzheng six-character marks and of the period, see R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol.IV (II), London, 1994, no.1719.

See also a pair of copper-red 'fish' dishes, Yongzheng marks and of the period, which was sold at Sotheby's New York, 11 September 2019, lot 658.