YUAN DYNASTY (1279-1368)

There are numerous references in traditional Chinese mythology and symbolism to the qilin, an auspicious animal with a lion’s head, tiger’s eyes, deer’s body, dragon’s scales, horse’s hooves and the tail of an ox, symbolising longevity, fertility and flourishing age during the reign of a benevolent ruler. In the Yuan dynasty, particularly in the mid-fourteenth century, the image of the qilin became one of the most popular motifs depicted on porcelains, and is usually rendered with a galloping pose with the head facing forward in the centre of a dish.

Compare with two Yuan blue and white dishes with the motif of a galloping qilin. One is published in T. Misugi, Chinese Porcelain Collections in the Near East-Topkapi and Ardebil and Tokapi, Hong Kong, 1981, vol. II, p. 90, and the other is illustrated in Hajni Elias and Giuseppe Eskenazi, A Dealer’s Hand: The Chinese Art World through the Eyes of Giuseppe Eskenazi, London, 2012, p. 295, pl. 300.