A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ DISH

21.

A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ DISH
Ming dynasty, second half of the 16th century
26,8 cm diam.
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 4039.

The centre is painted with two ducks perched on rockwork in a lotus pond beside a lingzhi fungus, with a further bird in flight, encircled around the sides with similar lotus and aquatic plants.

Mandarin ducks (yuanyang) are thought to mate for life and therefore have come to symbolise marital fidelity; combined with lotus (he), a homophone for harmony, they symbolise a harmonious conjugal relationship and the wish for sons. The lotus is also one of the Eight Buddhist Emblems and represents purity.
The undersides are painted with three birds perched on peach branches, which could represent the wish for long life.

See a related dish, but with different side borders, in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul (R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, 3 voll., London 1986, n. 1134).