Lobed dish on a footring, with spreading sides, and a lobed rim. Decorated in typical famille verte enamels: various shades of green, overglaze yellow, gray, black, iron-red and gold with in the centre a large lotus flower head surrounded by a band of swastikas with coins alternating with swastikas with a flower head on an iron-red ground. On the sides eight radiating panels containing flowering plants alternating with a boy holding a trailing lotus on a lambent salmon ground with swastikas or scrolls in gold and flowering lotuses. Around the rim a border with flower heads alternating with lozenges filled with a swastikas on a densely painted green-speckled (‘frog’s-spawn’) ground. The reverse is undecorated.

Most famille verte objects are decorated with flowers, flowering plants, blossoming trees, all kinds of animals including mythical ones, and slender Chinese women strolling in a garden, often accompanied by a small boy. Porcelain with flower and plant motifs, as well as landscapes without animals or figures, could be sold to Islamic customers; objects with animals and especially figures did well in the West, although a strict division certainly should not be made. Apart from studying the individual flowers and their meanings, it might also be interesting to regard the many flowers and flowering plants depicted on a piece of famille verte as symbolising a grand total, a reflection of a Chinese garden. The Chinese regard gardens as miniature landscapes, where a balance is attained between yin and yang, and the flow of rejuvenating cosmic energy (qi) is evident. (Jörg 2011/2, p.37)

The depiction of a boy or boys among foliage became a popular motif on Chinese ceramics as well as on textiles and lacquer ware. According to Confucian philosophy, abundant male offspring was considered essential to perform the duties of the family in society and the rituals and sacrifices for the deceased ancestors. Only sons guaranteed the survival of the family name. A son should pass the civil service examinations, become an official, and bring honour to his family. Lotus in this context is pronounced lian, which is a pun for lian, meaning continuous, forming the rebus of a wish for many sons. The boys are traditionally dressed as babies. Their hair is shaved, except for three small tufts of hair, the traditional hairstyle for little boys (Ströber 2011, cat. 72), (Bartholomew 2006, p.58-59, cat. 3.4 & cat. 3.4.2 & 3.16.1)

The reserved painting on the iron-red ground is characteristic of the famille verte painting programme, but because it was complicated, time-consuming and therefore expensive it was seldom produced after 1720. (Jörg 2011/2, p.50)

The salmon pigment is derived from iron oxide and was an innovation of the late Kangxi period. (Düsseldorf 2015, p.181, cat. 97)

Condition: Some glaze rough spots to the lobed rim, a fleabite and a chip to the rim and a short glaze hairline to the reverse (only visible on the reverse).

References:

Bartholomew 2006, p.58-59, cat. 3.4 & cat. 3.4.2 & 3.16.1

Jörg 2011/2, p.37 & p.50

Ströber 2011, cat. 72

Düsseldorf 2015, p.181, cat. 97

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