YONGZHENG SIX-CHARACTER MARKS IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN DOUBLE SQUARES AND OF THE PERIOD (1723-1735)

The beautiful, clear bluish glaze of the present dishes is inspired by the legendary Ru glaze of the Song dynasty. Traditionally much admired by Chinese connoisseurs, the Ru glaze was copied on porcelain as early as the 15th century. Excavations at the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen have revealed that Ru-type glazes were made for the Ming imperial court. In 1984 a porcelain bowl with inverted rim and Ru-type glaze was excavated from the Xuande stratum at the imperial kilns, and is illustrated in Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Urban Council Hong Kong, 1989, pp. 276-7, no. 97. The imitation of this revered glaze became even more popular at court in the 18th century under the Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors.

A pair of very similar dishes, also bearing Yongzheng marks within double squares, is illustrated by P. Y, K. Lam, Shimmering Colours: Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods, The Zhuyuetang Collection, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 140, no. 72, and another pair, described as having a ‘pale cobalt-blue glaze’, in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art is included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch'ing Monochrome, London, 1973, Section 6, nos. B560 and 561. Another dish in the Nanjing Museum is illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns, Hong Kong, 1995, no. 40. See, also, a similar example, also with the Yongzheng mark within a double square, in Marchant: Nine Decades in Chinese Art, sold at Christie’s New York, 14 September 2017, lot 743.