Qianlong seal mark and of the period The lobed dish with a central compartment encircled by four petal-shaped sections, supported on a short and slightly tapered foot, the interior decorated with lotus flower heads borne on leafy vines, the exterior with four sprays of lotus flowerheads, the base inscribed with a six-character seal script mark. 14.7cm (5 3/4in) diam.
清乾隆 斗彩纏枝蓮紋格盤 青花「大清乾隆年製」篆書款
The shape of the dish is especially attractive, featuring compartments arranged in a six-petalled flower form. The use of S-shaped petals to evoke floral motifs in ceramics dates back to at least the Northern Song dynasty in China, as exemplified by the design of a Ru ware cup stand in the Sir Percival David collection, illustrated by R.Scott, Imperial Taste: Chinese Ceramics from the Sir Percival David Foundation, San Francisco, 1989, p.37, no.13.
The present lot functioned as a palette dish or brush washer, a refined object used in the scholar's studio. This shape originates from the Ming dynasty, and was particularly favoured in the Wanli period. See a wucai box with petalled divisions, Wanli mark and of the period, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, p.44, no.40. See also a wucai dish similarly divided into compartments, Wanli mark and of the period, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (acc.no.C.735-1909).
This form continued to be adapted during the Qing dynasty. Compare, for example, with a blue and white and copper-red dish of similar shape, Qianlong seal mark and of the period, in the Collection of the Shenyang Palace Museum, illustrated by Wu Bin, The Prime Cultural Relics Collected by Shenyang Imperial Palace Museum: the Chinaware (沈陽故宮博物院院藏文物精粹 瓷器卷上), Shenyang, 2008, no.10, p.111.
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