Dish with foliate flaring rim

Blue-and-white.
Clay: fine white porcelain; three small cracks.
Glaze: plain, transparent.
Decoration: in underglaze cobalt blue; dragon inside and 10 small dragons outside; six-character Hsuan- te mark in blue on base.

Historical period(s)
Ming dynasty, Xuande reign, 1426-1435
Medium
Porcelain with cobalt pigment under colorless glaze
Style
Jingdezhen ware
Dimensions
H x Diam: 4.8 × 21.3 cm (1 7/8 × 8 3/8 in)
Geography
China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen
Credit Line
Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
Collection
Freer Gallery of Art
Accession Number
F1951.13a-b
On View Location
Currently not on view
Classification(s)
Ceramic, Vessel
Type

Dish

Keywords
China, dragon, Jingdezhen ware, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), porcelain, Xuande reign (1426 - 1435)
Provenance
Provenance research underway.
Description

Blue-and-white.
Clay: fine white porcelain; three small cracks.
Glaze: plain, transparent.
Decoration: in underglaze cobalt blue; dragon inside and 10 small dragons outside; six-character Hsuan- te mark in blue on base.

Marking(s)

Six-character Xuande [Hsuan- te] mark in underglaze blue on base.

Label

Writers and painters washed their brushes in bowls like this. The ten-lobed, foliate shape was created by using a mold.  Inside the bowl, a single dragon gambols through clouds. On the exterior, ten circular motifs, each consisting of a small dragon and clouds, appear; the depiction of the dragons alternates between showing them in ascent or descent.  An imperial reign mark written in cobalt appears on the base of the dish.

Published References
  • Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections. 12 vols., Tokyo. vol. 10, pl. 99.
  • Sekai toji zenshu [Catalogue of the World's Ceramics]. 16 vols, Tokyo, 1955-1958. vol. 11: p. 199, fig. 71.
  • Fujioka Ryoichi. Gen, Min Hajime no sometsuka [Blue and White of the Yuan and Early Ming Dynasties]. no. 11 Tokyo. p. 14, fig. 25.
  • Ming Porcelains in the Freer Gallery of Art. Washington, 1953. p. 19, figs. 11-12.
Collection Area(s)
Chinese Art
Web Resources
Google Cultural Institute
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