Dish
Category
Ceramics
Date
1685 - 1699
Materials
porcelain, underglaze blue
Measurements
43 mm (Depth); 280 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Jingdezhen
Order this imageCollection
Wallington, Northumberland
NT 582092
Summary
Dish, porcelain, of saucer shape, made in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China, 1685-1699; decorated in underglaze cobalt blue, painted in the centre with a scene from the Romance of the Western Chamber (Xixiang ji) with five figures on a terrace under a willow tree beside a pavilion, includes a wheeled chair, from left to right the characters include: the aspiring scholar, Zhang Sheng, the young aristocratic beauty, Yingying, her mother and her maidservant, Hongniang, and the monk Huining, the rim with a diaper border with floret panels; underside with a rare mark, comprising a palette, a brush and the sceptre of longevity, emblems of a literary person, within concentric circles in underglaze blue.
Full description
One of the most popular love stories in Chinese literature, Romance of the Western Chamber first appeared in the Tang dynasty in a short story by Yuan Zhen ‘The Story of Yingying’, which was rewritten in the 13th century by Wang Shifu. The play, set in the Tang dynasty, narrates the story of a young aristocratic beauty, Yingying, and an aspiring scholar, Zhang Sheng. The scene on the dish records a specific chapter in the story, also documented in contemporary woodblock prints illustrating the novel. The story appears on many late Ming and Kangxi period ceramics. See Hsu Wen-Chin, 'Illustration of ‘Romance of the Western Chamber’ on Chinese Porcelains: Iconography, Style and Development', Ars Orientalis, Vol. 40, 2011, pp 39-107. It is possible that a set of dishes were made each decorated with a moment from the Romance, see for example the vase in the Victoria and Albert Museum with 24 images from the story (C.859-1910).
Provenance
Gift from Raleigh Trevelyan