Each, 20.6 cm. (8 1/8 in.) diam.

Literature:Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat.no.64Qing Porcelain from a Private Collection, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 2012, cat.no.8
Each thinly-potted with gently rounded sides, finely decorated on the interior with a central medallion depicting flowering narcissus growing between rockwork, under overhanging nandina berries, and lingzhi fungus, the exterior with three evenly-spaced groups of lingzhi issuing from rockwork, all delicately enamelled with vivid shades of blue, yellow, white, pink and green within the underglaze-blue outlines, the base with an imperial six-character kaishu mark.Easily identified by its brilliantly-coloured red berries and evergreen bamboo-like leaves, the nandina is also known as the 'heavenly bamboo', tianzhu (天竺), for its resistance to the cold winters and as a welcoming sight of the season. When paired with the narcissus, shuixian (水仙), the fungus, lingzhi (靈芝), and rockworks, shoushi (壽石), they form the auspicious rebus 'may the immortality of the fungus congratulate you on your birthday and bestow longevity', zhixian zhushou (芝仙祝壽).The fondness of the Yongzheng emperor for this floral and rockwork composition is evident in a painting from the Qing Court Collection in the Palace Museum, Beijing, depicting the emperor sitting in the imperial garden copying a sutra, illustrated in Harmony and Integrity: The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times, Taipei, 2009, p.117, no.I-57. Compare a similar doucai dish in the Meiyintang collection, illustrated by R.Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection Vol.II, London, 1994-2010, p.135, no.765.Provenance:Sotheby's London, 8-9 July 1974, lot 441T. Y. Chao collectionSotheby's Hong Kong, The T. Y. Chao Private and Family Trust Collections of important Chinese Ceramics and Jade Carvings: Part I, 18 November 1986, lot 140Shimentang collectionExhibited:Ming and Ch'ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T. Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat.no.64.Qing Porcelain from a Private Collection, Eskenazi Ltd., London, 2012, cat.no.8

Price estimate:
HKD: 5,500,000 - 7,500,000
USD: 701,300 - 956,300

Auction Result:
HKD: 6,475,000