Imperial Yellow Saucer Dish with Peony Ode, Antique Color Plate, 1911

Plate 61 of the 1911 book Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, an original color plate of Chinese porcelain, illustrates a large saucer-shaped dish on a brilliant imperial yellow ground. The central roundel pairs peonies with golden pheasants and blossoming peach with finches, beside an inscription from an ode to the peony; a brocade border of chih-lung and chrysanthemums is in iron red. Unusually, the iron red lies under the glaze, which tints the green, blue and aubergine enamels yellowish. Gorer and Blacker describe it as Kang-he period and record it in the collection of G. R. Davies, Esq.; diameter 15 1/2 inches (39 cm).

The plate comes from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, the two volume work that Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker published through Bernard Quaritch of 11 Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London, in 1911. Two hundred and fifty four full page plates were printed in color by a photo mechanical process, each one facing a page of letterpress in English and French that described the piece. The edition was limited to one thousand numbered copies. The plates are color collotypes, and the book records that it was produced and printed by the Menpes Printing and Engraving Company of London and Watford.

Each sheet shows a single piece or group photographed against a plain ground, at a consistent scale and format throughout the book, with the plate number printed in red below. The book's text, which faced each plate, gives the authors' description, the period they assigned and the collection the piece was in.

Even age toning. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete. Several larger brown marks.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.