332.
A LARGE LONGQUAN CÉLADON GLAZED DISH
Ming dynasty, 14th-15th century
44,5 cm diam.
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 1506.
The well moulded with a radiating band of petal-shaped fluting, the centre with an impressed chrysanthemum spray.
During the Yuan and Ming dynasties the kilns of Longquan in Zhejiang province produced a large amount of similar dishes mainly destined to the countries of Middle East. Just few of them reached Europe before the early sixteenth century, usually through the intermediation of the Islamic merchants or as diplomatic gifts.
The Longquan céladon dish now in Palazzo Pitti, Florence, dating to the first half of the fourteenth century, belonged to Lorenzo il Magnifico (1449-1492) who received it in 1487 as a gift from Qa’it-Baj, the sultan of Egypt (F. Morena, Dalle Indie orientali alla corte di Toscana. Collezioni di arte cinese e giapponese a Palazzo Pitti, Florence 2005, pp. 22-23, n. 1: the Italian nobleman owned a collection of about fifty Chinese porcelain and ceramic pieces, described in the inventory of his goods compiled in 1492).
