Collections: Asian Art: Dish

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Dish

The elaborate carving on this circular dish extends through the red outer layer to a yellowish ground. The auspicious dragon at the center appears with a vaporous shou longevity character leaping from its jaws. These motifs and the complex technique demonstrate imperial taste of the early Ming dynasty; there is an imperial reign mark carved in a line In the middle of the red-lacquered base and infilled with gold. Dragons depicted on imperial wares always represented with five claws. On this dish, however, the fifth claw on each foot was later removed. Perhaps the dish was given to an official outside the imperial court.

• Medium: Lacquer on wood
• Place Made: China
• Dates: 1522-1566
• Dynasty: Ming Dynasty
• Dimensions: diameter: 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm)
• Collections: Asian Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in Special Exhibitions Gallery, 2nd Floor
• Accession Number: 2003.30
• Credit Line: Gift of Patricia Falk, from the Collection of Pauline B. and Myron S. Falk, Jr.
• Image: Overall, 2003.30_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Dish, 1522-1566. Lacquer on wood, diameter: 7 3/8 in. (18.7 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Patricia Falk, from the Collection of Pauline B. and Myron S. Falk, Jr., 2003.30 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2003.30_SL1.jpg)
• Catalogue Description: Lacquered in red and yellow Lung dragon cavorts amid clouds and lotus flowers, auspicious symbols of purity and fruitfulness, over a lower border of waves and mountains. One of the claws on each foot of the lung has been scraped away, probably to hide the fact that this plate was originally intended for imperial use. The rim of the plate contains the pa pao, or Eight Precious Things.