A famille rose 'warriors' dish


Attributed to Wang Xiliang, circa mid-20th centuryFinely enamelled with a central scene of an army chasing the enemy across a misty valley at the foot of craggy mountains, all below a short inscription signed 'Wang Xiliang' beside a small, red seal, all encircled by an elaborate, 'cloisonné enamel' style border of scrolling lotuses and peaches against turquoise and lime-green grounds, the reverse with a further red seal within a double square. 40cm (15 3/4in) diam.
|Wang Xiliang, nephew of the famous porcelain artist Wang Dafan, one of the Eight Friends of Zhushan, was born in 1922 in Jingdezhen, where he trained in porcelain decoration under his famous uncle. A member of the China Artists Association and at one time the President of Jingdezhen Painting and Calligraphy Academy, Wang was rewarded with a number of public awards in the course of his career, including that of 'Great Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts' by the Ministry of Light Industry in 1979.Whilst works by him are currently in public and private collections, with a number having been offered at auction, chargers of this type and design are quite rare amongst his works. See S. Kwan, Chinese Porcelain of the Republic Period, pl.116, p. 286-7, for one of his vases, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, no. FE.61-1990, for a plaque.