A fine pair of lemon-yellow enamelled saucer dishes, Marks and period of Yongzheng | 清雍正 檸檬黃釉小盤一對 《大清雍正年製》款

The J.M. Hu Family Collection

Sotheby's New York, 23rd September 1995, lot 429.

Marchant, London.

An Italian private collection, Turin.

Christie's Hong Kong, 1st June 2011, lot 3517.

Marchant, London.

胡惠春家族收藏

紐約蘇富比1995年9月23日，編號429

馬錢特，倫敦

意大利私人收藏，都靈

香港佳士得2011年6月1日，編號3517

馬錢特，倫敦

Deceptively simple in form and colour, lemon-yellow glazed vessels represent one of the most technically challenging porcelains to be produced. Monochrome wares of this type required absolute precision in potting, glazing and firing, as the smallest imperfection resulted in the destruction of the piece. Amongst all the different monochrome glazes, yellow is the only colour that has a direct imperial association. Although imperial yellow-glazed wares had been produced from the early Ming dynasty they were used exclusively for ritual ceremonies; thus lemon-yellow vessels provided the court with an alternative for daily use. The yellow glaze was derived from an antimoniate oxide and the lemon-yellow glaze was a Yongzheng innovation achieved when the antimoniate of iron was combined with tin oxide resulting in a dazzling translucent yellow hue.

See a similar pair from the Sir Percival David collection and now in the British Museum, London, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch'ing Monochrome in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1989, pls B543-4. Another example from the Paul and Helen Bernat Collection was sold in these rooms, 15th November 1988, lot 60.

檸檬黃釉器，形簡而色單，但燒製不易，胎、釉、火必精熟，方見成品，但有微瑕，則前功盡棄。黃釉者，宮廷獨斷，以鐵著色，始燒於明初，僅作禮器之用。至雍正一朝，以氧化銻入料，創檸檬黃釉，色澤純淨嬌嫩、均勻柔和，賞心悅目。

相類檸檬黃盤，倫敦大英博物館大維德爵士舊藏有例，見《Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch'ing Monochrome in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art》，倫敦，1989年，圖版B543-4。保羅 · 伯納德伉儷珍藏也有例，1988年11月15日在香港蘇富比易手，編號60。