A fine lemon-yellow enamelled saucer dish, Seal mark and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 檸檬黃釉小盤 《大清乾隆年製》款

S. Marchant & Son, London.

馬錢特，倫敦

This charming saucer is covered in bright lemon-yellow enamel, a colour first developed in the Yongzheng period. This enamel, which contains traces of lead antimonate, represents one of the last major innovation in the traditional low-fired palette. This opaque enamel was first created at the enamelling workshops in Beijing, and resulted from experiments with pigments imported by Jesuit missionaries, who worked alongside Chinese craftsmen in the palace workshops. The enamel was introduced to the potters of Jingdezhen around the time Tang Ying (1682-1756) was appointed Superintendent of the imperial kilns in 1728.

A Qianlong mark and period lemon-yellow enamelled dish of this shape and size is illustrated in Chinese Porcelain: The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, Hong Kong, 1987, pl. 143; another from the British Rail Pension Fund was sold in these rooms, 16th May 1989, lot 46; a third one formerly in the collection of Robert Somerville, Chicago, and later in the collection of Harold L. Geiger, was sold in our New York rooms, 22nd March 2000, lot 116; and a further pair from the collection of Sir Quo-wei Lee, sold in these rooms, 3rd October 2018, lot 130.