The decoration on this pair of dishes is almost identical: each dish is decorated in underglaze blue with a farewell scene in a landscape setting. The scene is painted skilfully in a spontaneous manner. Although one of the dishes bears a four-character mark 'Kangxi nianzhi' ('made in the Kangxi reign') at the base, their quality suggests that they are not imperial porcelains of the Kangxi (1662-1722). Rather they are provincial ware produced possibly in the Daoguang period (1821-1850), during which time Kangxi imperial porcelains were widely copied in provincial kilns. One other dish bears the character 'yu' or 'jade' which also proves the date to the Daoguang period.

Asian Art Department, AGNSW, November 2006