MING DYNASTY, 16TH CENTURY

Compare the mother-of-pearl-inlaid black lacquer octagonal dish of petal-lobed outline decorated with a related scene of figures in a garden, dated to the second half of the 16th century, illustrated by J. C. Y. Watt and B. B. Ford, East Asian Lacquer: The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1991, pp. 135-6, no. 60. The dating of the Irving dish is based on its similarity to other dishes of this type, all of which have "pictorial designs that correspond to woodblock prints of the Wanli" period. The authors also discuss the openwork cutting of the shell inlay and how it appears to be typical of the period. Particularly noteworthy are the rendering of the face and wave-ground robe of the lady in the pavilion on the present dish which is very similar to that seen on the ladies on the Irving dish.