A doucai 'dragon' dish, Mark and period of Yongzheng 清雍正 鬪彩雲龍戲珠紋盤 《大清雍正年製》款

This piece belongs to a distinct group of doucai dishes painted with ferocious side-facing dragons at the centre and with colourful wispy clouds on the well. Known as wuse yun (five-coloured clouds), they were considered potent auspicious omens, and multiple sightings of them are recorded in palace documents (Lin Lina, 'Yongzgheng chao zhi xiangrui fuying [Auspicious signs of the Yongzheng period]', Harmony and Integrity: The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times, Palace Museum, Taipei, 2009, pp. 391-393).

Auspicious motifs flourished in the Yongzheng period, probably due to the somewhat unusual circumstances that led the Emperor to the throne, which raised persistent questions over his right to rule and thus made him particularly receptive to these designs. 

A pair of closely related dishes, also from the collection of Madame L., was sold at Christie’s Paris, 15th June 2004, lot 185; another from the Edward T. Chow collection was sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 141; and a third example sold in these rooms, 8th October 2019, lot 3602. See also an example in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, exhibited in The Wonders of the Potter's Palette, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 45. An example of a slightly larger size (20.1 cm), formerly in the collection of Herbert Carmichael (1914-1986), was sold in these rooms, 9th October 2020, lot 3634.

本品盤心繪雲龍戲珠，內壁飾五色慶雲，釉色淡雅，精巧別緻。五色慶雲為吉祥之兆，孝德明盛、年穀豐稔之瑞應。關於陰陽五色慶雲疊現之記載，於雍正年間之奏報中俯拾可見，詳見林莉娜，〈雍正朝之祥瑞符應〉，《雍正—清世宗文物大展》，台北，2009年，頁391至399。雍正一朝盛行祥瑞紋飾，符應示意世宗即位正統合法，得上天祖宗皇考保佑，有助雍正帝強化皇權，鞏固統治。

可參考一對相類例，與本品同樣原屬 L 夫人收藏，後售於巴黎佳士得2004年6月15日，編號 185。另一例為仇焱之收藏，售於香港蘇富比1980年11月25日，編號 141。第三例售於香港蘇富比2019年10月8日，編號 3602。香港藝術館亦藏一例，展錄於《清瓷薈錦：香港藝術館藏清代陶瓷》，香港，1984年，編號 45。另可參考一較大盤例（20.1公分），為Herbert Carmichael（1914-1986年）收藏，後售於香港蘇富比2020年10月9日，編號 3634。