Lot 102 Dα

The 'wintergreen' glaze is probably the rarest monochrome glaze of the Yongle period; only three dishes are found in museum collections. The red glaze is also very rare, whilst a larger number of stemcups with a white glaze are known of. Just as with the red and white dishes, the wintergreen is found with and without a mark, which can be found as a four character mark on the inner wall of the stem. They were also made with and without anhua decoration. Alongside the favoured dragon design, where the dragon would decorate the inside of the dish, dishes with lotus and buddhist emblems are also found. It is unusual however to find the combination of the lotus decoration with the Lanca characters as on the present stem cup.
In the imperial workshops of the Yongle era, various glazes, decorations and forms were eagerly experimented. The popularity of Buddhist motifs was a reflection of Emperor Yongle's fervent devotion to Tibetan buddhism which initiated an unprecedented cultural bloom linking Chinese arts and crafts with Tibetan symbols and meanings, of hitherto unknown quality and splendor. The present stem cup is a sacrificial dish from a buddhist altar. It is therefore only logical that also here buddhist motifs would be used in the decoration.




15世纪 冬青釉暗花紋高足盌