A fine yellow-ground blue and white 'peach' dish, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 黃地青花九桃盤 《大清乾隆年製》款

Collection of Harry Nail, Palo Alto, California, 1960.

Collection of John Yeon, Portland, Oregon.

Christie's New York, 22nd March 2007, lot 331 (one of a pair).

Harry Nail 收藏，加州帕羅奧圖，1960年

John Yeon 收藏，俄勒岡州波特蘭

紐約佳士得2007年3月22日，編號331（一對之一）

This dish reveals the Qianlong Emperor’s admiration for the celebrated wares of the early Ming dynasty. The motif of fruiting peaches was first devised during the Yongle period and became a favorite motif of the Qing emperors because of its association with longevity. Although the decoration on this dish is a Qianlong-era reinterpretation, it is intentionally painted in the Ming style with the characteristic ‘heaping and piling’ effect, evoking the iconic porcelains of the previous dynasty. Similarly, the attractive contrasting palette of blue and yellow first appeared on porcelain during the Xuande reign, but continued to be produced throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Dishes of this type are held in important private and museum collections worldwide. One in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty, vol. 2, Hong Kong, 1968, pl. 29; another in the Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, is published in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, pl. 221; and a third from the Yokogawa Collection, is published in the Illustrated Catalogues of the Tokyo National Museum. Chinese Ceramics II, Tokyo, 1965, pl. 625. For examples sold at auction, see one from the collection of Bruce Dayton and Ruth Stricker Dayton, sold in our New York rooms, 21st September 2021, lot 72; and a pair from the T. Y. Chao Collection, included in the exhibition Ch’ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1973, cat. no. 45, and sold in our these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 316. 

For examples of Xuande-period predecessors, see four broken dishes decorated with various fruit and flower motifs, excavated from the imperial kiln site at Jingdezhen, included in the exhibition Jingdezhen chutu Ming Xuande guanyao ciqi / Xuande Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, cat. nos 78-2, 82-2, 85-3 and 88.