244.
A POLYCHROME PAINTED RUBY-GROUND DISH
Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period
22,5 cm diam
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 3573.
The outer surface with two cartouches shaped as partially unfolded scrolls, the larger with a composition with a cockerel, a dragonfly and peonies partially overlapping the smaller which shows a simpler decoration of flowers, two chrysanthemum stylized corollas to the rim, the elements painted with ‘Famille Rose’ enamels on a shiny ruby ground.
The cockerel (ji) is the tenth animal of the Chinese zodiac. It is associated with the sun, incarnating some yang principles such as masculinity and strength. Roosters are also believed to be able to scare away evil creatures: pottery and bronze cockerels were entombed already during the Han dynasty as funerary supply (see the bronze rooster in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, inv. n. 28.124.3, and the pottery model in the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, inv. n. 2017.47 ). In the imperial China, cockerels were often used as decorative motif because in general they symbolize good luck, especially as a good omen to successfully pass the official examinations.
A dish with a comparable decoration is published in D. Howard – J. Ayers, Masterpieces of Chinese Export Porcelain from the Mottahedeh Collection in the Virginia Museum, Virginia 1980, p. 41, n. 130.
