Enamel painting on porcelain. China, Qing, Tongzhi (1862 – 1874)
Lobed, elongated form, both vessels with lid and vent openings (see note). Painting offers pink-colored peony blossoms with foliage, a bird sits on one branch; on one dish it is green-grey, on the other red-brown. On the lids, blossoming branches resp. peony blossom. Respectively one inscription and marks on the bottoms, one in seal script TONGZHI nian zhi, "made in the Tongzhi years" (1862 - 1874).
HEIGHTS 3,7 and 4,5 CM, LENGTHS 11 and 11,9 CM
Note: This kind of covered dish was also called "cricket cage" – according to our knowledge were not and would have been for this use too impractical. They were rather placed on the table of the "scholar" and diffused the scent of incense.
From the collection of Jürgen L. Fischer, Ascona, Switzerland
Jürgen L. Fischer was one of the major European collectors of Chinese art. The extensive size of the collection largely owes to the family’s fortune from the invention of the world-famous “Uhu Alleskleber ” in 1932 (the first synthetic resin glue world-wide) by grandfather August Fischer. Jürgen L. Fischer, who lived until 2013, was an avid collector of Chinese porcelain in an astonishing wide variety, in every size and from every time period. Jürgen Fischer passed on his comprehensive knowledge in numerous specialist books – among others, his large and very instructive book about the art of Chinese snuffbottles and also an antiquarian’s guide to Chinese art.