A BLUE AND WHITE 'KRAAK PORSELEIN' DISH

LATE MING DYNASTY, CIRCA 1610-1630

Details

A BLUE AND WHITE 'KRAAK PORSELEIN' DISH
LATE MING DYNASTY, CIRCA 1610-1630
The dish is decorated in the center with a scene of ducks in a lotus pond enclosed by radiating lappets with fruit and floral groupings below the bracket-lobed rim. The reverse is decorated with stylized lappets.
12 in. (30.5 cm.) diam.

Provenance

Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York, 1983.
Collection of Julia and John Curtis.

Literature

Julia B. Curtis, “Transitionware Made Plain: A Wreck in the South China Sea,” Oriental Art, Volume XXXI, No. 2, Summer, 1985, p. 172, fig. 23.

Brought to you by

Margaret Gristina

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

mgristina@christies.com 212 636 2180

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

The motif of ducks in a lotus pond was a popular central theme on late Ming dynasty kraak wares. The subject also appears on earlier Yuan and Ming dynasty dishes, including a Yuan example from the Lenora and Walter F. Brown Collection, illustrated by Julia B. Curtis in “Tales told in Porcelain: Jingdezhen Blue-and-White Wares at the San Antonio Museum of Art,” Orientations, April 2005, p. 44, fig. 1, where the author notes, “Because mandarin ducks mate for life, in China they represent a wish for marital happiness.”

More from An Era of Inspiration: 17th-Century Chinese Porcelains from the Collection of Julia and John Curtis

View All