Page 28 - 2019 OctoberSur Quo Wei Lee Collectim Important Chinese Art Hong Kong

The present charger is a fine example of the technical rooms, 8th April 2013, lot 20. Three further chargers from the
developments achieved by potters during the early Ming Ardebil Shrine in the National Museum of Iran, Tehran, are
dynasty. One of the most striking decorative innovations of included in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the
early 15th century wares was the use of separate floral sprays Ardebil Shrine, Washington, D.C., 1956, pl. 35; and a charger
in the cavettos instead of the continuous scroll. The heavy in the British Museum is shown next to a related pottery copy
wreath of lotus or peony found on 14th century dishes gave from Iznik in Turkey in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Ornament.
way to a series of delicate and more varied motifs. Two sets of The Lotus and the Dragon, London, 1984, pl. 163. See also a
six flower sprays were commonly repeated so that each pair charger of this type in the National Palace Museum, Taipei,
of flowers sat diagonally opposite each other. included in Pleasingly Pure and Lustrous: Porcelains from the
Yongle Reign of the Ming Dynasty. Guidebook, Taipei, 2017,
A closely related charger in the National Palace Museum, pp. 70-71. Another related charger formerly in the collection of
Taipei, was included in the Special Exhibition of Early Ming Mr and Mrs Eugene Bernat was recently sold in these rooms,
Period Porcelain, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1982, cat. 3rd October 2018, lot 140, also from the collection of Sir Quo-
no. 37; one in the National Museum of China is published Wei Lee.
in Zhongguo Guojia Bowuguan guancang wenwu yanjiu
Although examples of this exact design have not been
congshu/Studies on the Collections of the National Museum
recorded from the excavations of the Ming imperial kiln
of China, Ciqi juan: Mingdai [Porcelain section: Ming dynasty],
site, similar large dishes of this form, painted with related
Shanghai, 2007, pl. 20; another in the British Museum,
designs, have come to light in the Yongle stratum of the site;
London, is illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics,
see, for example, the dish included in the exhibition Yongle
London, 2001, pl. 3:35; and a fourth example, published
Imperial Porcelain Excavated at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, Capital
in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang
Museum, Beijing, 2007, cat. no. 68.
Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 663, was sold in these