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Lot Essay
In the catalogue for the exhibition of ceramics from the Idemitsu Museum, In Pursuit of the Dragon: Traditions and Transitions in Ming Ceramics, Seattle Art Museum, 1988, p. 98, Mary Ann Rogers discusses this group of dishes with distinctive decoration made beginning in the Xuande period and continuing through the 15th and 16th centuries. The Idemitsu collection has examples from each of the five reign eras during which the type was produced, and the group is largely consistent with just a few minor differences in the treatment of flowers and fruit.
Other examples with Zhengde marks are in some of the world’s greatest collections, including the collection of the Percival David Foundation, illustrated by M. Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Polychrome Wares, London, 1978, pl. III, no. 29 and in the Smithsonian Institution, illustrated in Ming Porcelains in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953, p. 35, nos. 31 and 32.
The choice of fruit and botanical motifs on these dishes was not random. The flowers of the boldly painted gardenia decorating the center of the interior were admired for their beauty and fragrance while the fruit of the plant provided a fine yellow dye.
Other examples with Zhengde marks are in some of the world’s greatest collections, including the collection of the Percival David Foundation, illustrated by M. Medley, Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Polychrome Wares, London, 1978, pl. III, no. 29 and in the Smithsonian Institution, illustrated in Ming Porcelains in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1953, p. 35, nos. 31 and 32.
The choice of fruit and botanical motifs on these dishes was not random. The flowers of the boldly painted gardenia decorating the center of the interior were admired for their beauty and fragrance while the fruit of the plant provided a fine yellow dye.