AN UNUSUAL MALLOW-FORM LACQUER DISH17th/18th century or earlier Rising from a short tapering foot to elegantly curving sides in the form of an unfurling flower with eight undulating petals bound with a thin metal band, applied overall with brown lacquer of dark-chocolate tone, except for two petals in shades of black and brown-red, the base with an apocryphal four-character Kangxi mark. 23cm (9in) diam. 十七/十八世紀或更早 烏漆葵式盤 「康熙年造」楷書款 The form of the present lot is typical to dishes dating to the Southern Song dynasty, and therefore the appearance of a Kangxi mark is unusual as are the two differently coloured petals. See a similar brown lacquer flower-form dish, Southern Song dynasty, with collector seal mark on the base, illustrated in Art of China: Highlights from the Philadelphia Museum of Art , New Haven and London, 2018, pp.70-71, no.18. Another similarly-shaped dish, from the Florence and Herbert Irving collection, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated in East Asian Lacquer , New York, 1991, no.2. A further brown lacquered mallow-shaped dish, Song dynasty, is illustrated in The Monochrome Principle: Lacquerware and Ceramics of the Song and Qing Dynasties , Munster, 2008, pl.7. With its distinctively shaped and slightly overlapping petals, the mallow flower was amongst the most popular forms for lacquerware produced between the tenth and the fourteenth centuries. The flower underscores auspicious symbolism relating to longevity and fulfilling life and was frequently also reproduced in metal wares, as well as Ding , Ru and Guan ceramic wares. The close dialogue between monochrome lacquer and ceramics is evident in the sheen of the surface and the delicate form of the bodies, and the present dish is very similar to that of fine Ding ware; see a persimmon-glazed mallow-shaped dish, Song dynasty, attributed to the Ding kilns, illustrated in The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China: Featuring Lacquerwares, Ceramics, and Metalwares , Tokyo, 2004, no.24. pare with a related red-lacquer mallow-form dish, Song dynasty, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2012, lot 2080, and another black-lacquered mallow-form dish, Song dynasty, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2103.