THREE ‘BLUE AND WHITE’ DISHES
China, Ming dynasty, Wanli period

11, 11,5 and 13,5 cm diam

The interior of two with a chi dragon with lion’s head and a sinuous body, one with a figure, probably Kui Xing, the God of Literature, the rims underlined with geometric motif bands, fu mark to the centre of the reverse.

Provenance: the collection of a Dutch noblewoman lived in Indonesia, acquired before 1975.


Bowls with similar decoration have been found in cargo aboard the San Diego, Witte Leeuw and the Royal Captain (see M. Crick, Chinese Trade Ceramics for South-East Asia from the 1st to the 17th Century. Collection of Ambassador and Mrs Charles Müller, Milan 2010, nn. 230-233).