| The central medallion with two circling phoenix birds, their long five tail feathers wafting behind them amidst lotus blossoms on scrolling stalks bearing trefoil leaves, a band of auspicious symbols around the mouth rim, medallions of flower heads on the back of the dish, a band of scrolls along the footrim, all in underglaze blue, the "heaping and piling" evident. Some warpage, kiln grit. 12"
Provenance: Westchester, New York collection
The double phoenix bird design of this offering appears in both the Jiajing and Wanli periods, although the decoration here is similar to a number of Jiajing plates that have been published suggesting it was made during that reign. Compare a phoenix dish, Jiajing mark and period, decorated on the interior with a pair of phoenix birds, each with five long streaming tail feathers, separated by lotus blossoms on scrolling stalks bearing trefoil leaves, Sotheby's New York, June 4, 1986, lot 109.
Authenticated Ming blue and white porcelain is becoming more difficult to locate. Extreme caution is required to separate pieces made during the Ming Dynasty from excellent copies being produced in China and making their way into the market. |
