Treasures from the Forbidden City (2): Plate with Dragon Design

[posts in this series are to introduce objects on display in the exhibition "the Forbidden City: Inside Court of China's Emperor" at Royal Ontario Museum, March 8 - September 1, 2014; and at Vancouver Art Gallery Oct 18, 2014 - Jan, 2015]

Plate with dragon design
嘉靖款黃地青花勾蓮大盤
Blue-and-white porcelain with overglazed yellow enamel.
Ming dynasty, Jiajing mark and period
Diameter 80.7 cm
The Palace Museum, Gu144700

Dragons were the ultimate symbol of imperial power and adorned many of the emperor’s possessions, from everyday utensils to artwork and costumes, and even the palace itself. More than 12,600 dragon designs are said to have been incorporated into the architecture of the Forbidden City. The emperor’s dragons were special, with features that identified them as imperial. One such feature is illustrated on this beautiful dish — only the emperor’s dragons had five claws.

This is one of the finest early-Ming porcelains from the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen. Beyond its unusually large size, this plate was the rare product of a twice-glazed technique. First, the makers fired a common blue-and white dish featuring a forward-facing dragon surrounded by intertwined lotus flowers. Then they covered the original white glaze with an iron-rich glaze and fired the dish again, this time at a lower temperature. The result was an imperial yellow background.


简说：盘敞口，弧壁，圈足。通体黄地青花装饰。盘内壁绘四条龙穿行于缠枝莲纹中间，盘心绘一正面龙，周围衬以缠枝莲纹，外壁绘缠枝莲纹。圈足内布涂满火石红。口沿外侧从左向右置青花楷体“大明嘉靖年制”六字一行款，外围青花双栏。黄釉青花为明宣德时首创的高温与低温釉相结合的品种，成化时更加温润而浅淡，正德、弘治、嘉靖时皆有烧制。它是在青花烧成后再于白釉地上挂黄釉后入窑烘烤而成。凝重浓艳的青花纹饰与浅淡的黄釉地相互辉映，更显立体艺术效果。

[For more, please consider purchasing the exhibition souvenir guidebook at ROM shop or online]