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the base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double circle
Diameter 8 in., 20.2 cm
图录
说明:While some debate remains as to the specific iconography, the present design of a mythical beast mounted with books striding over crashing waves is widely considered to be one of auspicious significance. Compare another dish of this design in the Palace Museum, Beijing in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, pl. 218, where the authors describe the design as representing the cosmological systems of Hetu and Luoshu, the former often represented as a dragon horse (longma) and the latter as a dragon turtle (longgui). Others identify the design as that of the auspicious qilin, said to appear in times of virtuous rule, with the books on its back representing knowledge and accomplishment.
Surviving examples of this expressive design are rare. Compare a closely related dish of this design from the collection of the Chang Foundation, its rim ungilded, illustrated in Selected Chinese Ceramics from Han to Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 1990, pl. 140; another with gilt rim sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 13th November 1990, lot 336, included in Sotheby’s Hong Kong: Twenty Years, Hong Kong, 1993, pl. 264 and sold again, Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th November 2005, lot 1337; another from the Winkworth Collection, sold more recently at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30th May 2012, lot 4106; and another from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 560.