A RARE FAMILLE-VERTE ‘BIRTHDAY’ DISH KANGXI MARK AND PERIOD

the shallow sides rising from a tapering foot to an everted rim, delicately enamelled to the interior with a goose gliding over a small gaggle of three geese feeding and squawking among bamboo and waterweeds beside a pond, encircled at the rim in iron-red with lotus florets and roundels enclosing the characters Wanshou wujiang (Limitless longevity) on a honeycomb diaper ground, the base with a six-character mark within a double-circle, Japanese wood box

Christie’s London, 12^th December 1977, lot 203.
The Jingguantang Collection.
Christie’s Hong Kong, 3^rd November 1996, lot 587.

Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 162.
In Pursuit of Antiquities. Min Chiu Society Thirty-fifth Anniversary Exhibition, Hong Kong, 1995, cat. no. 134.

Anthony du Boulay, Christie’s Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, London, 1984, p. 227, pl. 2.
The Tsui Museum of Art, The Tsui Museum of Art. Chinese Ceramics, vol. IV, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 100.

The dish is in good condition with the exception of eight circa 3-5mm. wide areas of re-touching to rim frits, very minor flakes and wear to the enamels and light glaze scratches.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Dishes of this finely painted type and inscribed with a wish for long life in the rim border are believed to have been created for the Kangxi emperor’s sixtieth birthday in 1713. They are known with a great variety of designs, often depicting ladies, insects or nature scenes with birds. Peter Lam, in ‘Lang Tingji (1663-1715) and the Porcelain of the Late Kangxi Period’, Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 68, London, 2003, p. 40, argues that dishes of this type continued to be made during Lang Tingji’s time as supervisor.

 

Further designs belonging to this group of dishes include a bird on a fruiting branch, such as one in the Musee Guimet, Paris, illustrated in Xavier Besse, La Chine des Porcelaines, Paris, 2004, pl. 35; insects amongst branches, seen on a dish from the Meiyintang collection, sold several times at auction and most recently in our Hong Kong rooms, 4^th April 2012, lot 19; and the goddess Magu with an attendant, as depicted on a dish in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Kangxi. Yongzheng. Qianlong, Hong Kong, 1989, p. 69, pl. 52. ‘Birthday’ dishes with four different motifs from the Sir Percival David collection are in the British Museum, London, published in Illustrated Catalogue of Qing Enamelled Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 1991, pls 812, 890, 891 and A836.