GRAND PLAT EN ÉMAUX CLOISONNÉS

The present cloisonné enamel dish is impressive for its magnificent size and for the deep and varied range of colours employed in its decoration. The design of two writhing five-clawed dragons amidst billowing clouds is bold and powerful and draws the viewer in. Similar designs of dragons and clouds around a flaming pearl can be found on a dish and basin in the Palace Museum, Beijing. See a cloisonné enamel foliate rim dish, Wanli, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Enamels 1: Cloisonné in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Beijing, 2011, no 109. A cloisonné enamel basin with the related design of dragons, Wanli six-character mark and of the period, is illustrated in Ibid., no.110.

See also a closely related dish of slightly larger dimensions, from the Pierre Uldry collection, published by H.Brinker and A.Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonne: Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Zurich, 1985, pl.222. See also a dish of similar form but decorated with the motif of dragon and phoenix in the same colour palette, illustrated by E.E.Bluett, 'Chinese Cloisonne in the Krolik Collection', Oriental Art, Winter 1965, p.222, fig.5, which was sold at Sotheby's London, 24 February 1970, lot 35.