A black lacquer 'chrysanthemum' dish, Song dynasty | 宋 黑漆菊瓣盤 《玉》款

The present lacquer dish, with its elegant shape in line with the aesthetics of the Song dynasty, would have reminded any Chinese, whether from the ruling class or belonging to the scholar gentry, of the understated blooms of chrysanthemums, a flower with delicate fragrance symbolising the subtle virtue of a gentleman.

See a larger example with an everted rim (30.5 cm), inscribed to the base with the characters Wu xing dong ji and attributed to the Northern Song dynasty, included in the exhibition The Colors and Forms of Song and Yuan China: Featuring Lacquerwares, Ceramics, and Metalwares, Nezu Institute of Fine Arts, Tokyo, 2004, cat. no. 13, together with a Dingyao moulded dish of chrysanthemum shape in the collection of the Tokyo National Museum, cat. no. 15.