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Lot Essay
This exquisite dish is elaborately moulded with two rows of overlapping petals, each row comprising sixteen petals in reminiscence of a lotus bloom. The central medallion and the exterior are inscribed with Sanskrit characters alternating with flower sprays. The overall design evokes the imagery of a three-dimensional Mandala, used as a meditation tool in Tibetan Buddhism.
Most Wanli lotus dishes of this type are decorated purely with cobalt blue, without iron-red enamels. Extremely few pieces combining blue and white and iron-red decorations similar to the current dish seem to have survived. One other example is known, formerly from the Tsui Museum of Art Collection, no. MPN018, sold at Christie’s London, 10 May 2011, lot 243 for GBP49,250 (fig. 1).
Compare to several blue and white dishes of this type without iron-red decorations, including 1) one from the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 194 (fig. 2);
2) one from the National Palace Museum Collection, acquisition no. guci 16013N000000000 (fig. 3); 3) and one formerly from the Manno Art Museum, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 October 2002, lot 529, and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 3169, for HK$1,220,000.
Most Wanli lotus dishes of this type are decorated purely with cobalt blue, without iron-red enamels. Extremely few pieces combining blue and white and iron-red decorations similar to the current dish seem to have survived. One other example is known, formerly from the Tsui Museum of Art Collection, no. MPN018, sold at Christie’s London, 10 May 2011, lot 243 for GBP49,250 (fig. 1).
Compare to several blue and white dishes of this type without iron-red decorations, including 1) one from the Palace Museum Collection, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (II), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 194 (fig. 2);
2) one from the National Palace Museum Collection, acquisition no. guci 16013N000000000 (fig. 3); 3) and one formerly from the Manno Art Museum, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 October 2002, lot 529, and again at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2012, lot 3169, for HK$1,220,000.