Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Dish c.1700.
A small Kangxi blue and white porcelain plate c.1700. Painted in strong tones of cobalt blue with a ferocious contorted dragon, it’s mouth open and extending a scaly clawed. The rim is decorated with swirling waters, with half prunus flower-heads and crashing waves. The back has a Seal-Mark.
RESERVED
- Condition
- In very good condition. Three small frits to the rim.
- Size
- Diameter : 16 cm (6 1/2 inches)
- Provenance
- N/A
- Stock number
- 23851
Photos
Information
Dragon :
The Dragon is synonymous with China, it permeates every part of Chinese culture from popular folklore, art, religion to the emperor of China himself. Dragons have been depicted since earliest times. The Dragon, although strong, is in China a benevolent, even positive beast, potent with auspicious powers said to control the Earth and the Heavens. It is associated with life giving rain that nourish crops. This connection with rain and indeed all forms of water could be due to some folklores that says the Dragon is based on the now extinct salt-water crocodile that used to inhabit the rivers of China. The earliest depictions of Dragons in China are so far recorded as being from the Yangshao culture in Henan in the fifth millennium BC from. The five-claw Dragon is reserved as a symbol of the Emperor.