Sold Ceramics - Sold Kraak Porcelain wares 1570-1645 - Dishes - Page 1

Object 2010395

Dish

China

1610-1630

Height 50 mm (1.73 inch), diameter of rim 320 mm (11.34 inch), diameter of footring 170 mm (6.10 inch)

Dish on footring, slightly scalloped flat rim. Decorated in a deep underglaze blue with a flower basket, filled with peonies, peaches, a book scroll, an artemisia leaf and a ruyi head encircled by an eight pointed scalloped medallion. On the sides and rim large panels filled with a peach and different Buddhist symbols alternating with narrow panels with dots and a diaper pattern. The scheme of the underside repeats that of the front, large ogival or round panels filled with fungus and dots and narrow panels with lingzhi motifs.

According to Rinaldi this dish can be classified as a Border VII.2 dish. Here the large panels on the border are no longer filled with floral sprays or insects, while the peach has begun its transformation into what is known as the sunflower motif. Auspicious symbols replace floral sprays and insects, most of them concerned with longevity, as if to ward off the dangers of wars and famines which swept over China at that time. These symbols are usually Daoist or the Eight treasures. Buddhist symbols are much rarer. In this group narrow panels are partly filled with diaper motifs. In the centre Medallion the ducks in a pond and the hanging basket are still very common. In this group a new motif appears: a bird on a rock near water and large flowers, usually peonies. The scheme of the underside repeats that of the front. Large ogival or round panels contain fungus and dots; narrow sections contain stylised lingzhi motifs. In this group narrow panels are partly filled with diaper motifs while there are a few dishes which do not have a diaper border around the central medallion. (Rinaldi 1989, pp.100-105)

By placing the flower basket inside a garden fence, the decorator suggests a feeling of inner peace. The flower basket represents Lan Cai He, one of the Eight Immortals, patron Saint of gardeners and florists. (Sjostrand & Lok Lok 2007, p.175)

Condition: A hairline, a firing flaw and some glaze frits to the rim, a scratch to the glaze of the interior wall.

References:

Rinaldi 1989, Pl.96

Sjostrand & Lok Lok 2007, Serial No. 4252

Price: Sold.

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