A fine pair of 'Famille rose' porcelain dishes

Description:

China, Yongzheng period
D. 24 cm
The center of this plate is decorated with a version of The Hundred Antiques design. This not a specific design or pattern, rather a concept of a design which changes again and again depending on where it is used. It is a seemingly miscellaneous collection of objects and flowers that appear to have no meaning. However, most have scholarly connotations, flower vases, scrolls, musical instruments, sacred fungus etc. The design might include elements of the Eight Treasures, the Four Treasures, or the symbols of Four Fine Arts (music, chess, calligraphy, and painting). Not all the items in these designs are necessarily antiques, some are contemporary objects as well as fruit and flowers, each of which has its own significance and meaning. The inner border is of puce diaper pattern and there are plants as well as fruit around the rim.
Formerly from a German private collection, assembled before 2007 - One dish with an old short hairline and a very small chip, the other dish with two very samll chips at the rim, both with very minor wear