KANGXI 1662 – 1722 Chinese Porcelain

A Large Kangxi Porcelain Dish c.1680-1690. The Unusual Scene is of Flowering Prunus Tree Against the Nights Sky. The Back is Painted with Three Groups of Bare Branches. The Base with a Channel Foot and a Precious Object to the Center. There is a Chinese Family Name Inscribed to the Back.
SOLD

Condition
Fritting and small chips to the rim.
Size
Diameter : 34.5 cm (13 1/2 inches)
Provenance
N/A
Stock number
24184

Photos

Information

This unusual dish was clearly not exported to the West as it has a Chinese family name inscribed to the back.

`In the corner of the wall, some twigs of plum blossom. Braving the frost, they bloom quietly for themselves. Even in the distance, you can see that it is not snow. And from somewhere a sweet perfume is wafted` ( Wang An-Shi, 11th century ).

Plum Blossom :
Plum Meihua is one of the most important plants in Chinese art. Their flowers grow on knurled old angular branches, the flowers are fragile and pure, so they can be a symbol of vigour in old age as well as purity. The tree is the first to flower after the long hard winter, symbolically it can represent perseverance as well as renewal. This meaning is enhanced by a background of cracked-ice, the design can be seen as representing the end of winter and the beginning of spring with the ice of winter cracking to reveal a new year dawning. Branches of plum blossom convey the `Five Blessings` Meikai wufu, longevity, wealth, health, love of virtue and a peaceful death. The number five, an auspicious number to the Chinese, is taken from the five petals of the plum flower.