TONGZHI FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN IRON RED AND OF THE PERIOD (1862-1874)

This bowl was made as part of one of the sets of Imperial wedding porcelain, each of a different pattern, made for the celebration of the wedding of Cixi's son Zaichun, the Tongzhi emperor. For a discussion of these wedding porcelains, see R. Longsdorf, 'The Tongzhi Imperial Wedding Porcelain', Orientations, October 1996, p. 74, fig. 20, where he notes that pieces of this pattern are very rare, with the one illustrated, fig. 20, the only one he has seen. Also illustrated, are a pair of bowls of a different shape decorated with the same pattern, fig. 19.