A fine pair of lemon-yellow enamelled saucer dishes 

Qing dynasty, Yongzheng marks and period 

The thinly potted vessels with gently rounded sides rising from short tapering feet and wide bases, the interiors and exteriors covered overall in bright lemon yellow, the white-glazed bases with finely painted six-character marks in cobalt blue within double squares, fitted box.

Each 8.8cm diameter (2)

Provenance: Sotheby's Hong Kong, October 2018, lot 3648 (labels).

清雍正 檸檬黃釉小盤一對，青花雙方框楷書「大清雍正年製」款

來源：蘇富比香港，2018年10月拍賣第3648號（標籤）。

Further to the introduction of colloidal gold and the development of yancai enamels, known in the West as famille rose, during the reign of his father, the Kangxi emperor, Emperor Yongzheng took a personal and close interest in the further development of porcelain technology, and in the creation of an Imperial aesthetic which favoured delicate designs and shapes that were technically complex to achieve. Chief amongst these were lemon yellow vessels, deceptively simple in form and colour, yet requiring absolute perfection and precision in potting and enamel application and firing, lest they be destroyed.

Lemon-yellow is perhaps the most iconic of the many bright-coloured enamels developed by command of Emperor Yongzheng in his quest to further advance the new palette of famille rose enamels; it is achieved when the antimoniate of iron is combined with tin oxide resulting in a dazzling translucent yellow hue. Until then, yellow glazes, despite their irrevocable imperial connection, were reserved exclusively for ritual use; the new, bright enamels provided the court for an alternative for daily use.

Cf. See a similar pair of dishes from the Sir Percival David collection and now in the British Museum, London, published in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ch'ing Monochrome in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, 1989, pl. B543-4.

A similar pair was sold by Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 29 April 2022, lot 3509.