At a recent Christie’s auction in New York, a blue and white porcelain tray with alum red loong patterns from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty was sold for 2.77 million US dollars (approximately 20 million yuan), which drew the spotlight to the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum in Liaoning Province once again. The national first-class museum houses two pieces of the same-style porcelain trays.

 Blue and White Porcelain Tray with Red Loong Patterns from the Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty, Collected by the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum

 Blue and White Porcelain Tray with Red Loong Patterns from the Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty, Collected by the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum

One is a porcelain tray with the same colors and similar patterns from the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, which is a standard imperial utensil. The outer edge of the tray is painted with blue and white sea wave patterns. Its inner edge is adorned with four red glazed loongs soaring and breathing flames amid flowing clouds in blue and white colors. In the center of the tray is a red loong traversing through sea waves and chasing a flaming pearl. At the center of its bottom, six Chinese characters “Made in the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty (大清雍正年製)” in kaishu (regular script) are inscribed within a blue and white double circle. The other is from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. This porcelain tray is almost identical to the previous one in terms of the integral shape and inside pattern layout. Their differences only lie in patterns on the outer edge, flame patterns of loongs, and bottom inscriptions.

The porcelain tray of the Qianlong period, collected in the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum, was produced in the same period as the one sold at the Christie’s auction. As inferred by their similar shapes and patterns, they were both modeled on the original porcelain tray from the Yongzheng period. The craft of “red glaze on blue and white porcelain” was the combination of two glazing crafts, underglaze blue and white, and overglaze red, which emerged from the Ming Dynasty, and flourished during the Qing Dynasty. Porcelain works crafted in such a way spanned from the Kangxi to Guangxu periods of the Qing Dynasty, showcasing the greatest quantity and quality particularly during the Yongzheng to Qianlong periods.

Blue and White Porcelain Tray with Red Loong Patterns from the Qianlong Period of the Qing Dynasty, Collected by the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum

Blue and White Porcelain Tray with Red Loong Patterns from the Qianlong Period of the Qing Dynasty, Collected by the Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum