A Chinese famille rose yellow ground magpie dish four character Tongzhi mark in iron-red and probably of the period, decorated with a design for the wedding of the Dowager Empress Cixi's son, Zaichun, with twelve magpies in flight amidst prunus blossoms, the reverse with three flower sprays, 22.3cm.

Provenance: formerly in a private Swedish collection, purchased in China in 1956.

Cf. R Longsdorf, The Tongzhi Imperial Wedding Porcelain, included in Chinese Ceramics, Selected Articles from Orientations 1982-1998, p.368, fig.14, where a bowl of this pattern is illustrated.