A FINE YELLOW-GROUND BLUE AND WHITE 'GARDENIA' DISHMARK AND PERIOD OF ZHENGDE |

potted with shallow rounded sides supported on a slightly tapered foot, freely painted on the interior with a central medallion enclosing a leafy branch bearing two five-petalled gardenia blooms flanking a bud, encircled on the cavetto by fruiting branches of pomegranates, grapes and peaches, as well as a beribboned lotus bouquet, all within double-line borders, the exterior with a continuous floral scroll of six blooming roses borne on a foliate stem between two double-line borders at the rim and foot, the design rendered in shaded tones of cobalt against a yellow enamel ground, save for a white base inscribed with a six-character reign mark within a double circle

Collection of Leung Yee.
Acquired from the above, 1982. 

Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 67.

The dish is in overall very good condition. There is expected light surface wear to the interior and rim. There is a minute kiln flake to the inner footring.
"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."

This gardenia design, which is known from examples ranging from the Xuande (1426-1435) to the Jiajing (1522-1566) period and was executed in blue-against-yellow, blue-and-white, and brown-and-white, underwent a distinct style change in the Zhengde reign (1506-1521). Dishes of this pattern were then produced also in smaller sizes than before, the central design was tightened, the arrangement of the surrounding branches altered, with the lotus bouquet placed straight above the gardenia branch, the crab apple replaced by the peach, and the mark often reduced from a six- to a four-character version – the prevalent imperial mark of the time. While the design generally remained similar, on Zhengde versions the fruit and flower sprays can also be differently distributed around the central motif. Two Zhengde dishes of this design with marks of four and six characters in the British Museum are published in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pls 8:23 and 24. A similar dish with a six-character mark in the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan cangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections: A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 1-41. Another example with a six-character reign mark from the Meiyintang collection is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 2, no. 683 and was later sold in these rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 43. Compare also an example from the collection of the Toguri Museum of Art, Tokyo, illustrated in Fujioka Ryoichi & Hasebe Gakuji, eds, Sekai tōji zenshū/Ceramic Art of the World, vol. XIV: Min/Ming Dynasty, Tokyo, 1976, col. pl. 171, sold twice in our London rooms, and again in these rooms, 8th October 2013, lot 213.

For dishes with four-character marks, see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red, vol. 2, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 233, together with Chenghua and Hongzhi prototypes, pls 230 and 231. A slightly larger dish with a four-character reign mark, formerly in the collections of Mr and Mrs R.H.R. Palmer, Roger Pilkington and Maureen Pilkington, was sold in these rooms, 5th April 2017, lot 4. On the Pilkington dish, the positions of the peach and pomegranate sprays are interchanged.