A Ming Blue and White Porcelain Dish for the Japanese Market, Transitional Period, Chongzhen 1628 – 1644

A Ming porcelain dish, Transitional, reign of Chongzhen 1628-1644. The thickly potted Ming dish was made for the Japanese market and shows flowering lotus and arrowroot tied together. The cavetto consists of cartouches of flowering plants set against a fretwork type ground.

SOLD

 

Condition
In very good condition but with typical fritting to the edge.
Size
Diameter : 14.5 cm (5 3/4 inches)
Provenance
N/A
Stock number
24014

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Ming Porcelain for Japan :
During the late Ming Period the Chinese made a large among of porcelain for the Japanese market, it was made from the Wanli period (1573-1620) and ended in the Chongzhen period (1628-1644), the main period of production being the 1620`2 and 1630`s. The porcelain objects produced were made especially for the Japanese market, both the shapes and the designs were tailored to Japanese taste, the production process too allowed for Japanese aesthetics to be included in the finished object. Its seams firing faults were added, repaired tears in the leather-hard body were too frequent to not, in some cases, be deliberate. These imperfections as well as the fritting Mushikui (insect-nibbled) rims and kiln grit on the footrims all added to the Japanese aesthetic. The shapes created were often expressly made for the Japanese tea ceremony meal, the Kaiseki, small dishes for serving food at the tea ceremony are the most commonly encountered form. Designs, presumably taken from Japanese drawings sent to China, are very varied, often using large amount of the white porcelain contrasting well with the asymmetry of the design.

Arrowroot and Lotus :

The arrowroot represents the wish for a son, the tip of the corm looks somewhat like  a small penis. The lotus is one of the most important symbols in the Chinese art. This Buddhist emblem is a symbol of purity, as the perfect flower grows out of muddy ponds without a stain. The words for lotus in Chinese has the same meaning as to bind, connect (in marriage). It is one of the Eight Auspicious Symbols of Buddhism. It is the flower used to represent summer. The lotus is also a Taoist symbol of longevity.