A pair of biscuit-enamelled sancai dishes, Marks and period of Kangxi | 清康熙 素三彩瑞果暗龍紋盤一對 《大清康熙年製》款

Collection of Choo Kia Peng (1881-1965), and thence by descent.

朱嘉炳（1881-1965年）收藏，此後家族傳承

Painted with auspicious fruits symbolising abundance of offspring, in an elegant palette of understated beauty, this pair of dishes belongs to one of the most representative types of porcelain from the imperial kilns of the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662-1722). They feature a highly unusual decoration that required remarkable skill, technology and labour to manufacture, and it is extremely rare to find such dishes offered as a pair. The dishes were first incised in body, both inside and outside, with fine designs of lively dragons and inscribed on the base with the imperial reign mark in cobalt blue. Only the bases were then covered with a clear transparent glaze, and the pieces submitted to a first firing at a high porcelain temperature. The biscuit-fired areas were then applied with a coating of opaque cream-coloured glaze, painted with fruiting branches in brown outlines and coloured washes and fired a second time at a lower enamel temperature.

Similar decoration can also be found on bowls (see lot 3629 in the current sale), but due to the complicated and long manufacturing process, such dishes and bowls were produced in fairly small numbers. Yet they are represented in world-famous museums and private collections, for example, in the Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Enamelled Ware of the Ch’ing Dynasty, vol. I, Hong Kong, 1969, pl. 8; in the Tokyo National Museum, included in Oriental Ceramics. The World's Great Collections, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1982, no. 158; in the Chang Foundation, Taipei, illustrated in James Spencer, Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 120; and in the exhibition Splendour of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1992, cat. no. 144.

A similar dish from the British Rail Pension Fund, exhibited on loan at the Dallas Museum of Art 1985-1988, was sold twice in our rooms, most recently in these rooms, 9th October 2012, lot 29, and is illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, London, 1994-2010, vol. 4, no. 1818, together with a matching bowl, vol. 2, no. 889. Another dish from the collection of Edward T. Chow was sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 156, and illustrated in The Leshantang Collection of Chinese Porcelain, Taipei, 2005, cat. no. 43. Further examples include one illustrated in the exhibition catalogue 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. 70, and sold in these rooms, 19th May 1987, lot 302; another example sold twice in these rooms, 29th October 1991, lot 227 and again, 3rd April 2019, lot 3311; and a pair sold in these rooms, 11th April 2008, lot 2918.

對盤繪吉祥瑞果，寓意多子多福，配色雅緻，突顯樸素低調之美，屬康熙御瓷典型，為世所慕。此類素三彩盤，紋飾獨特，技藝要求極高，難得燒就，遑論成對。匠人先於素胎盤內外暗刻龍紋，靈動逼真，並以鈷青書康熙年製款，僅器底施以透明釉，先經高溫窰燒，後於素燒區域塗奶白色不透明釉，以深棕繪折枝瑞果輪廓，填以各色彩料，再經二次低溫窰燒。

類似暗刻龍紋素三彩果紋，亦見於盌例（見同場拍品編號3629），然因其燒製工序繁雜，且頗費時日，不論盌或盤，產量均甚少。世界知名博物館以及私人收藏中有數例，可資比較，例如台北故宮博物院藏品，錄於《故宮藏瓷》，卷1，香港，1969年，圖版8。東京國立博物館藏例，載於《東洋陶磁大觀》，卷1，東京，1982年，編號158。台北鴻禧美術館可見一例，刊於史彬士，《中國歷代陶瓷選集》，台北，1990年，圖版120。《清朝瑰寶》也曾展出一例，香港藝術館，香港，1992年，編號144。

英國鐵路養老基金會舊藏一盤，與此相近，1985-1988年間借展於達拉斯藝術博物館，三度售於蘇富比，最近一次為及香港蘇富比2012年10月9日，編號29，並錄於康蕊君，《玫茵堂中國陶瓷》，倫敦，1994-2010年，卷4，編號1818，同書載一素三彩盌，也可作例，卷2，編號889。