Red & Gold / Rouge-de-Fer 1690-1730 - Page 1

Object 2010C305

Dish

China

c.1700

Height 35 mm (1.38 inch), diameter of rim 212 mm (8.35 inch), diameter of footring 112 mm (4.41 inch), weight 268 grams (9.45 ounce (oz.))

Dish on footring, flat rim. Decorated in 'Red & Gold' / 'Rouge-de-fer' with iron-red and gold on the glaze with a pheasant perched on the branch of a peony tree, surrounded by flowering peonies and aster. On the sides and rim six large panels filled with flowering lotus plants, separated by a thin line pouring out into small umbrella shaped panels, filled with a zig-zag lines pattern and a single half flower head. In the centre of the reserve a double circle in underglaze blue.

The pheasant (ye yi ;雉) is a very popular motif on Chinese export porcelain and frequently appears on enamelled and underglaze blue Kangxi wares. It also plays a rather prominent part in early Chinese literature. In Chinese bureaucratic hierarchy officials of the second grade had a gold pheasant embroidered on their court robes, those of the fifth grade a silver pheasant. The bird was represented as standing on a rock, looking towards the sun, the imperial symbol of authority. Pheasants are also strongly associated with women. During the Song Dynasty (960-1279) the robe the empress wore on grand state occasions was decorated with colourful pheasants contained within a red border decorated with dragons and clouds. It is not always easy to distinguish the pheasant from the phoenix as it often shares the attributes and meanings. Here, the pheasant is depicted as a general symbol of beauty and good fortune.

For another identically shaped dish with a similar central design, please see:

Sold Ceramics - Sold Red & Gold / Rouge-de-Fer 1690-1730 - Object 2011946

Condition: Various glaze rough spots and some fleabites to the rim

References:

Williams 1976, pp.322-323

Eberhard 1986, pp.233-234

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 171

Bjaaland Welch 2008, p.80

Price: € 349 Currency Converter