A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ DISH

23.

A ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ DISH
Ming dynasty, Wanli period
30,8 cm diam.
Apocryphal Da Ming Xuande nianzhi six-character mark.
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 4580.

The dish is decorated in the centre with two pheasants standing on rockwork beneath a tree peony, encircled by a ruyi-head border, the rim with auspicious emblems alternating with peach and flowers. The reverse with pomegranates and prunus branches.

The pheasant (zhi) is an emblem of beauty and elegance, strongly associated with women. It is also a widespread symbol of refinement, especially in the culture of literati. As a decorative motif on porcelain, pheasants were particularly appreciated inthe eighteenth century.

A closely related dish is in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul (R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, 3 voll., London 1986, n. 869: one of five).