JIN DYNASTY (1115-1234)

Ding dishes decorated with peacocks are rare, but those decorated with a combination of peacocks and mandarin ducks are even more so. The peacock seems to be closely connected with the phoenix in Chinese art, not only in its physical attributes but the birds are also found together and sometimes the peacock seems to be a substitute for the phoenix. Symbolic of beauty and dignity, the Book of Changes (Yijing) calls the peacock a cultured bird that brings civilisation to the world. When depicted in pairs they are likely to symbolise happy marriage. One closely related example with this rare decoration is known, which is a dish of almost the same size and shape in the Beijing Palace Museum, similarly moulded with four peacocks in flight on the cavetto, encircling a pair of birds in the centre identified by the Museum as wild-geese, illustrated in Selection of Ding ware: the Palace Museum's Collection and Archaeological Excavation, Beijing, 2012, pl. 85.