Fine Chinese Blue and White Dish, Kangxi (1662-1722)

Ref: W682

£ 6,200

Price is subject to availability and market conditions.

Fine Chinese blue and white dish, Kangxi (1662-1722), decorated to the central roundel with a scene from the drama ‘Xi Xiang Ji’ (‘The Romance of the Western Chamber’), in which the traitorous military officer Sun Feihu kidnaps Yingying; the two figures depicted standing between a bannerman and bandit follower in a landscape with overhanging rockwork and boughs; the rim with six shaped cartouches containing flowers including prunus, peony and lotus against a floral cell ground; the reverse with two rocky islets to the rim and a six-character apocryphal Chenghua mark in underglaze blue within a double circle.

Dimensions:

Diameter: 32.8cm. (12 7/8 in.)

Condition:

Two very shallow rim frits.

Notes:

The Romance of the Western Chamber is a much-loved Chinese tale written in the Yuan dynasty by playwright Wang Shifu (1250-c.1337) and tells of the love between Zhang Sheng and Cui Yinying. Despite setbacks stemming from her family’s disapproval, they meet in secret with the help of Yinying’s maid Hongniang and eventually marry. The story is one of love overcoming obstacles (including the kidnapping of Yingying as depicted on this plate), but also of the virtues of learning, as it is Zhang Sheng’s scholarly brilliance and his passing of the civil service examination that enables the happy marriage to take place.