JIAJING SIX-CHARACTER INCISED MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1522 - 1566)

The decoration on this dish is a scene known as 'Washing the Elephant' (saoxiang, literally ‘sweeping the elephant’), and is associated with the Buddhist idea of Spiritual Purification. An initial link between the white elephant and Buddhism was revealed in connection with the birth of the Buddha. According to legend, his mother, Queen Maya, was childless for many years after her marriage, but one night she had a very vivid dream in which she was transported by four devas (spirits) to Lake Anotatta in the Himalayas. She was then visited by a white elephant holding a white lotus in its trunk, which walked around her three times before entering her womb through her right side. Tradition has it that the Buddha took the form of a white elephant in order to be reborn for the last time on Earth.
Illustrations of this scene were popular on late Ming and early Qing dynasty porcelains and other works of arts. It is, however, very rare to find a cinnabar lacquer dish depicting this scene.