A large blue and white 'floral' dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period

Acquired in London, early 1970s.

Large dishes of this type were first developed under the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) and their continued production during the Yongle reign (1403-1424) may reflect the emperor’s interest in having the imperial kilns create porcelains suitable for export. Excavations at Zhushan, Jingdezhen, confirm that examples of this type were produced early in the reign, with shards discovered in stratum three of the Zhonghua Road site immediately above the Hongwu (1368-1398) stratum. Their distribution appears to have been carefully controlled by the court, and it is possible that some were circulated through the great maritime expeditions of the eunuch admiral Zheng He (1371-1435), who led six major voyages as far as the Middle East and East Africa.

These imposing dishes soon became highly prized in overseas markets, especially in India and the Middle East, as demonstrated by the large numbers preserved in the Ottoman and Safavid treasuries in Istanbul and Tehran. Their success also inspired numerous local copies in earthenware, a testament to their profound impact on Islamic ceramic traditions. Within China, however, they were equally esteemed, as confirmed by the survival of excavated examples such as one unearthed at Dongmentou, Zhushan, in 1994, included in the exhibition Imperial Hongwu and Yongle Porcelain Excavated at Jingdezhen, Kaohsiung Museum of Replica Handbags s, Taipei, 1996, cat. no. 44.

Comparable dishes are preserved in important public and private collections worldwide, including one in the Ardebil Shrine, Tehran, illustrated in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, pl. 34, no. 29:88; and in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming Dynasty Porcelain, Taipei, 1977, pl. 37. See also one illustrated in J. Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. II, Geneva, 1969, no. A140; and another from the Sir Alan and Lady Barlow Collection, published in Michael Sullivan, Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Jades, London, 1963, pl. 131a. A closely related dish inscribed with the name of Shah Jahan and a date corresponding to 1632 is published in Peter Hardie, “China’s Ceramic Trade with India” Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic Society, vol. 48, 1983–84, p. 19, pl. 3.

Compare a similar dish from the T. Y. Chao Collection, exhibited in Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T. Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 5, and sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 18th November 1986, lot 35; another dish sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 3152; and a further example sold at Christie’s New York, 25th March 2022, lot 1044.