Dish
Category
Ceramics
Date
1725 - 1750
Materials
Porcelain, enamel, gold
Measurements
15 mm (Height); 115 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Jingdezhen
Order this imageCollection
Saltram, Devon
NT 870866
Summary
Dish, porcelain, round, made in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China, Yongzheng period (1723–35) or Qianlong period (1736–95), second quarter 18th century, decorated in blue, red and black enamels and gold with two cocks facing each other, both standing on rocks and surrounded by peonies, with a band of diaper pattern around the rim.
Full description
In Chinese art a cock standing on a rock has the meaning ‘Good fortune to your family’, as the cock symbolises good fortune and the word for ‘rock’, shi 石, is reminiscent of shi 氏 ‘family’ (Bjaaland Welch 2008).
Provenance
Given to the National Trust by Montagu Brownlow Parker, 5th Earl of Morley (1878-1962), 1957.
References
Bjaaland Welch 2008: Patricia Bjaaland Welch, Chinese Art: A Guide to Motifs and Visual Imagery, Tokyo, Rutland (Vermont) and Singapore, 2008, p. 87