A SMALL AGATE QUATREFOIL DISH

QING DYNASTY, YONGZHENG FOUR-CHARACTER MARK AND OF HE PERIOD (1722-1735)

LENGTH: 11.2CM

The delicate dish is of quatrefoil form, with its shallow sides flaring gently at the barbed rim. The entire surface of the agate is unworked save for a recessed circle on the flat base engraved with a four-character ‘Yongzheng nianzhi’ 雍正年製 mark in archaic script. The luminous stone is of a warm greyish beige tone accentuated by natural swirls and ripples of black and russet tones.

SIMILAR EXAMPLES

Agate vessels inscribed with the Yongzheng reign mark are extremely rare. Such examples are usually modelled on natural floral forms with the stone deliberately left unworked to accentuate the beauty of its material and form. A lobed dish in near identical form and incised with a shou 壽 character is among the collections of the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Imperial Treasures from the Palace Museum, Shanghai, 2006, p. 47, pl. 27. A Yongzheng agate cup and saucer, with the oval saucer bearing the same mark also within a recessed circle, is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Harmony and Integrity: The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times 雍正 : 清世宗文物大展 , Taipei, 2009, pp. 244-245, Catalogue No. II-70.