XUANDE MARK CAST WITHIN A RECTANGLE, 15TH-16TH CENTURY

The shape of this dish appears to be based on lacquer prototypes of Song-Yuan date, and is very similar to the black lacquer dish in the Tokyo National Museum included in the exhibition, Oriental Lacquer Arts, Tokyo National Museum, 1977, no. 430. On both the lacquer example and the present dish the base of the petals form a conforming outline around the center of the dish. The beaded edge of the present dish also imitates the raised outer edge seen on lacquer dishes of this shape.
See, also, the very similar bronze dish included in the exhibition, Oriental Works of Art, Gerard Hawthorne, Ltd., London, June 2002, no. 11.