FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTION A CELADON-GLAZED ' LINGZHI ' SAUCER DISHYongzheng six-character mark and of the period Finely potted with rounded sides, incised on the interior with a roundel of four lingzhi fungus and stylized bamboo sprays, decorated on the exterior with a continuous frieze of the same design, the delicate celadon glaze covers front and back of the dish including the base, Yongzheng six-character mark in underglaze-blue within double circle at base. 4 5/8in (11.7cm) diam 清雍正 豆青釉靈芝劃花紋小盤 《大清雍正年製》雙圈款 Provenance: Private North American Collection, prior to 1970 出處： 北美私人收藏，1970 年以前入藏 The lingzhi fungus is rich in metaphors in Chinese art, symbolizing longevity and good fortune. When placing lingzhi together bamboo sprays, as on the present dish, it carries the message of wishing the recipient a happy birthday ( zhu shou ), since bamboo ( zhu ) is a pun for 'congratulations' and 'wishes' and the lingzhi implies long life ( shou ). pare the Yongzheng-marked dish of similar design in the collection of the Gulbenkian Museum of Oriental Art and Archaeology, University of Durham, illustrated in A Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Ma MacDonald Collection of Chinese Ceramics , London, 1972, pl. XXXVIII, no. 115. Another is illustrated by P. Lam, Shimmering Colours - Monochromes of the Yuan to Qing Periods: The Zhuyuetang Collection , Hong Kong, 2005, p. 157, no. 86. See a single dish sold at Christie's New York, 23 March 2018, lot 782.