Lot Essay
The present dish belongs to a small group of early 15th century white-glazed ceramics that was pioneered at the imperial kilns during the Ming dynasty Yongle period. A similar eight-lobed dish of this same size but without the anhua decoration was included in the exhibition, Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods, Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen, Hong Kong, 1989, and illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 129, no. 23, where it mentions that among the excavated white ceramics of the Yongle period, shaped dishes are rare.
Dishes of this same shape and size but all incised with grapes on the interior are known. The first is illustrated in Handbook of the Mr and Mrs John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, p. 72, no. 1979.157; the second is illustrated by J. Wirgin, Chinese Ceramics from the Axel and Nora Lundgren Bequest, Stockholm, 1984, pl. 34; and a third is the Kempe Collection, sold at Sotheby's Paris, 12 June 2008, lot 41.
It is also interesting to note that some dishes of this type also had in addition a gilt decoration, and is seen on an example included in the exhibition, Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1996, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 173, no. 54, measuring 36 cm. wide. Traces of gilt decoration are also found in the interior of a large circular dish (36.7 cm. diam.) in the British Museum illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, p. 102, fig. 3:6. The main motif of the British Museum dish is designed with three large blooms and foliage within double bracket lobes, and differs slightly to two other related circular dishes also illustrated, the first incised on the interior with a coiled dragon; and the other a dense network of lotus scrolls, op. cit., figs. 3:7 and 3:9 respectively.
Dishes of this same shape and size but all incised with grapes on the interior are known. The first is illustrated in Handbook of the Mr and Mrs John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, p. 72, no. 1979.157; the second is illustrated by J. Wirgin, Chinese Ceramics from the Axel and Nora Lundgren Bequest, Stockholm, 1984, pl. 34; and a third is the Kempe Collection, sold at Sotheby's Paris, 12 June 2008, lot 41.
It is also interesting to note that some dishes of this type also had in addition a gilt decoration, and is seen on an example included in the exhibition, Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1996, illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 173, no. 54, measuring 36 cm. wide. Traces of gilt decoration are also found in the interior of a large circular dish (36.7 cm. diam.) in the British Museum illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, p. 102, fig. 3:6. The main motif of the British Museum dish is designed with three large blooms and foliage within double bracket lobes, and differs slightly to two other related circular dishes also illustrated, the first incised on the interior with a coiled dragon; and the other a dense network of lotus scrolls, op. cit., figs. 3:7 and 3:9 respectively.