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Dish
unknown - Enlarge image
Dish
- Place of origin:
Jingdezhen, China (made)
- Date:
1730-1750 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
unknown (maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Porcelain with engraved decoration, painted in overglaze enamels
- Credit Line:
Salting Bequest
- Museum number:
C.1400-1910
- Gallery location:
China, room 47f, case 8
This dish is an exquisite example of eggshell porcelain painted in overglaze enamels. Introduced into the imperial workshops in Beijing and Jindezhen in the 1720s, pink and white colour enamels enabled decorators to incorporate a wide range of colours and surface effects into their designs. Porcelain of this type is known as famille rose in Europe and fencai [powdered colours] or ruancai [soft colours] in Chinese. The predominantly pink base of the dish was a popular style of the 1730s and 1740s and a few dishes of this type were produced for export.
The woman's high social status, cultivation and learning is reflected in the quality of the furnishings surrounding her and the elegance of her Han-style garment. Her role as a mother is indicated by two children playing around her while the entire representation shows distinctive similarities with idealised depictions of beautiful women ( or Meiren) in Chinese painting.
