The rarity of this dish lies both in its design and in the fact that it bears a Xuande mark

Of the published dishes of this type and date, almost all have a lotus blossom as the central flowerhead and have lotus scroll in the well and chrysanthemum scroll on the exterior, unlike the composite foliate scroll which decorates both the well and exterior of the present dish. Of the dishes decorated with lotus and chrysanthemum scroll some bear a Xuande mark and some are unmarked. See the marked example in the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated by Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1954, pl. 16, and an unmarked example illustrated by Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. II, London 1994, p. 49, where the author notes that the use of lack of mark 'may either signify different destinations, the court or export - or different dates Xuande or Yongle - or both'

The other distinguishing motif on this dish, the conjoined trefoil band at the base of the exterior walls, is also found on an unmarked dish illustrated by John Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, pl. 34 (29.98), which is the most similar to the present dish, also having pairs of different flowers incorporated into the foliate scroll in the well