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Plate
Chinese export
Wanli period
about 1590
Medium/Technique
Hard-paste porcelain with underglaze blue decoration
Dimensions
Diameter: 26 cm (10 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
The G. Ephis Collection—Museum purchase with funds donated anonymously, Charles Bain Hoyt Fund, John H. and Ernestine A. Payne Fund, Mary S. and Edward J. Holmes Fund, William Francis Warden Fund, Tamara Petrosian Davis Sculpture Fund, John Lowell Gardner Fund, Seth K. Sweetser Fund, H. E. Bolles Fund, and funds by exchange from the Kiyi and Edward M. Pflueger Collection-Bequest of Edward M. Pflueger and Gift of Kiyi Powers Pflueger
Accession Number2012.568
NOT ON VIEW
DescriptionA Chinese blue and white 'kraak porselein' plate painted in underglaze blue from the Wanli period (1573-1619) with a central shaped roundel with Mandarin ducks at a river-bank, encircled by eight pointed scalloped medallions symbolizing lotus petals filled with flowering plants, Buddhist good-luck symbols (lantern) or Artemisia leaves alternated with narrow panels of jewels in between a diaper or scale pattern. The reverse is undecorated. Marked on the base with six Chinese characters, underglaze.
InscriptionsTwo labels on underside:
"Vanderven 40" and "Collection G. Ephis"
"Vanderven 40" and "Collection G. Ephis"
ProvenanceGeorge Duff, Lisbon. 2004, sold by Vanderven & Vanderven (dealer), Hertogenbosh, The Netherlands, to the G. Ephis collection (private collector), France; 2012, sold by the G. Ephis collection to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 24, 2012)