A blue and white 'lotus pond' charger, Yuan dynasty | 元 青花蓮塘圖折沿大盤

Blue and white chargers of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) are among the most impressive and characteristic porcelains of that innovative period. No two dishes are identical as the craftsmen conceived each dish individually. Their onerous production process and generous use of the expensive imported cobalt pigment severely limited the number that could be produced, resulting in the potters switching to a simpler version of circular form and designs in blue on a white ground, which were better suited to serial production. Porcelains of this type were exported all over Asia and highly sought after for their durability and suitability for Middle Eastern banquets. The exoticism of their quickly sketched central nature scenes, which are unmistakeably Chinese, evoking lush Southern gardens with fantastic rocks, bamboo, lotus, peonies and other plants, would have appealed to wealthy Middle Eastern merchants keen to dazzle their audience back home. Such porcelains represent the vanguard of an overarching change of taste in tableware that embraced all of Asia, although it was to take some time before China’s elite fully embraced Jingdezhen’s blue and white colour scheme itself.

Close comparisons are illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, cat. no. 570 (TKS 15/1427 and 15/1429); in John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington D.C., 1956, pl. 8, nos 29.40 and 29.41; and in The Idemitsu Museum of Art 15th Anniversary Catalogue, Tokyo, 1981, cat. no. 755. A slightly larger example was sold in these rooms, 2nd May 2005, lot 638.

元瓷鼎新，尤青花盤軼群而出，別具一格。青花盤皆匠心獨運，舉世無雙，全然相同二例未有所見。因工序繁複，且所耗鈷料有賴進口，造價不菲，青花盤產量大為受限，陶匠故而逐漸從簡，盤改作圓形，白地繪青花為飾，省時減料，以求增產。此類瓷器成器魁碩有力，外銷亞洲各國，因經久耐用、宜供宴飲，中東對之搜求備至。器心紋飾取材天然，揮灑自如，箇中神韻盡顯中式風情，猶見南方園林，有奇石、竹藪、渚蓮、牡丹等，潛薈蔥蘢。此類景德鎮青花瓷首開食器審美之變，影響遍及亞洲，先為中東富賈所好，用其宴饗以博賓客歎羨，後得中土顯貴青睞。

近例可參見康蕊君，《Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul》，卷2，編號570（TKS 15/1427、15/1429）；John Alexander Pope，《Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine》，華盛頓，1956年，圖版8，編號29.40、29.41；以及《開館15周年記念図録》，出光美術館，東京，1981年，編號755。香港蘇富比2005年5月2日也曾售出一例，較此略大，編號638。