Dish, 1465-1487, Ming dynasty, Chenghua reign. Porcelain with cobalt under colorless glaze. H: 4.3 W: 20.1 cm, Jingdezhen, China. Purchase F1951.10. Freer/Sackler© 2014 Smithsonian Institution
To some connoisseurs, the Chenghua reign (1465–87) marks the ultimate stage in the development of Chinese blue-and-white, in which technical perfection is matched by great refinement in taste. The best Chenghua examples are remarkable for their delicacy, luminosity, and sensitive drawing. A six-character mark confirms the Chenghua date on this dish.
The interior is painted with a motif known as the "three friends of winter" (pine, plum, and bamboo) and also a garden rock and fungus of immortality appear. The design is both a wish for longevity and also carries poetic and scholarly connotations. The exterior is decorated with women in a garden setting with two constellations pictured overhead. These are the Herdboy (Aquila) and Weaving Maiden (Vega) stars that cross the Milky Way and meet on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the Double Seventh Festival in China. In antiquity, this was a major celebration for lovers. Women made special displays of brocade, prepared vegetarian feasts, and burned incense while they prayed for divine instructions, especially for improvement of needlework.
This dish can be compared to another in the collection, F1951.11.
Dish, 1465-87, or possibly 18th century, Ming or Qing dynasty. Porcelain with cobalt under colorless glaze. H: 4.4 W: 20.1 cm, Jingdezhen, China. Purchase F1951.11. Purchase F1951.10. Freer/Sackler© 2014 Smithsonian Institution
This dish is very similar to F1951.10; both are decorated the same and both bear a Chenghua (1465–87) reign mark on the base. Some scholars accept both dishes as genuine works of the Chenghua reign; however, it is very possible that this dish (F1951.11) is a later copy, probably made during the eighteenth century. Regardless of its date, it is a very refined piece that offers room for speculation about what is the acceptable range of variation for genuine Chenghua wares; or the dish may be a window onto Qing dynasty copies of earlier porcelain.
Reasons to question the date of the bowl include the bluish tint of the clear glaze, which is not typical of the Chenghua period. Also, the way the foot has been trimmed relates more closely to practices during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) than during the Ming. Moreover, the treatment of the cobalt lines in the painting looks mannered, as if the painter was intentionally trying to introduce some areas of darker blue to resemble a naturally occuring effect seen in Chenghua wares.