Page 200 - Sotheby's Sir Quo Wei Lei Collection Oct. 3, 2018

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