Dish
Ming dynasty, Wanli period, c. 1573–1620 Manufactured for export at the Imperial Kilns at
Jingdezhen, China
Porcelain Purchase, John Wyatt Gregg Allerton Fund, 1954
(1911.1) Amsterdam was a gateways through which highlyvalued
and exotic Asian exports entered Western
markets, to be purchased by consumers for their
households and by artists for use in their
compositions. This dish was manufactured in China for
export. It is nearly identical to the porcelain bowl in
Abraham van Beyeren’s A Fruit Still Life (nearby),
which serves not only to hold fruits and vegetables but
also to symbolize to Western viewers wealth, power,
and worldly pleasures. Eastern audiences—and,
perhaps, some erudite Westerners—would have
recognized that the sunflower-like design alternating in
the bands along the edge of the dish is actually a
stylized peach, a popular Daoist emblem for longevity. |