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An image of Dish with bouquet design

Jingdezhen ware

(China )

Title
Dish with bouquet design
Place of origin
Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China
Period
China: Ming dynasty 1368 - 1644, Yongle 1403 - 1424
Year
1403-1424
Media
Ceramic
Medium
porcelain with underglaze blue decoration
Dimensions
7.4 x 40.9cm
Credit
Bequest of Kenneth Myer 1993
Accession number
575.1993
Location
Lower Asian gallery
Further information

The technical and artistic excellence of Ming dynasty porcelain is without parallel. Although a tremendous variety of wares was produced, the great tradition of blue and white porcelains most confidently expresses the imperial style. The Yongle period at the beginning of the fifteenth century was one of the most glorious and productive eras in the history of Chinese art. Under the inspired patronage of the Yongle emperor all the arts flourished; none more so than the ceramic arts centred on the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province. There the characteristics of the local clay had been mastered in the production of translucent high-fired white-bodied porcelain. The technique of painting on the body of the ceramic vessel with cobalt blue had been introduced to China during the preceding Yuan dynasty, probably from Persia. By the late Yuan dynasty (in the second half of the fourteenth century), blue and white porcelain was the hallmark product of Chinese kilns, paving the way for massive expansion and artistic fulfilment in the Ming. This large dish is a classic example of the Ming potters' art. Perfectly shaped, it is covered with a glaze rich in texture, and painted with a flourishing design of a bouquet of lotus and water plantain, with a continuous scroll of lotus blooms around the rim. Characteristic of Ming imperial wares, the shape of the vessel is in perfect harmony with the rhythms of the decoration.

Art Gallery Handbook, 1999. pg. 252.

Bibliography (7)

The Art Gallery of New South Wales collections (1994), Ewen McDonald (Australia) (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Art Gallery of New South Wales handbook (1999), Bruce James (Australia) (Author), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Director), Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Look (Apr 2001), Judith White (Australia) (Commissioning Editor), Fiona Hardie (Australia), South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Chinese porcelain of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties (1977), J. Hepburn Myrtle (Australia, b.1911, d.1998) (Author), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales (2003), Jackie Menzies (Australia) (Editor), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Art Gallery of New South Wales: highlights from the collection (2008), Edmund Capon (England; Australia, b.1940) (Author), Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

The many lives of Kenneth Myer (2008), Sue Ebury (New Zealand; Australia) (Author), The Miegunyah Press (Australia), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Exhibition history (2)

Great gifts, great patrons, (17 Aug 1994–19 Oct 1994), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.

Chinese porcelain of the Ming and Ch'ing dynasties, (18 Feb 1977–26 Jun 1977), at Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874), Art Gallery Rd Domain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000.