西川茂
DISH, Blue-and-white porcelain with design of a bird eating a loquat
| Designation | Important Cultural Property |
|---|---|
| Date1 | Ming dynasty |
| Date2 | Yongle period (1403-1424) |
| Kiln | Jingdezhen ware |
| Height(cm) | 10.0 |
| Diameter(cm) | 50.5 |
| Weight(g) | 4620 |
| Collection | The ATAKA Collection |
| Credit Line | The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka (gift of SUMITOMO Group, the ATAKA Collection), photograph by NISHIKAWA Shigeru |
| Accession No. | 00560 |
| Description | This lobed dish with a diameter of over 50 centimeters bears a scene of a bird pecking at a loquat in the center, leaving abundant white space. The bird is called shoudainiao in Chinese: since shou is homonymous with the character for longevity it is regarded as an auspicious symbol of long life. The loquat bears abundant gold-color fruit thus thought to be a symbol of wealth. Both sides of the cavetto bear auspicious fruits including pomegranates, peaches and lychee while the mouth rim is decorated with baoxianghua scrolls and waves. The artistic expression of the underglaze blue decoration becomes more refined during the Yongle period, which is executed in a more pictorial manner leaving certain amount of white background. |
| URL for TIFF images | https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_VB1rHe69aZSAyXaMzwcG-O_-OlNWgZV?usp=sharing |