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Lot Essay
The theme in this dish is associated with the Dragon Boat Festival (duanwujie), which falls on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Many of the themes associated with duanwujie relate to the desire to combat evil forces and poisonous creatures. On this dish we see the legendary Daoist priest Zhang Tianshi, who cuts through evil with his sword. The snake, centipede, toad, scorpion and lizard constitute the ‘Five Poisons’ in Chinese traditions. A lizard is depicted on the exterior of this dish. Both the well and the exterior of the dish are painted with butterflies, pomegranate flowers and other blossoms. The pomegranate flowers, which are in bloom at the time of the Dragon Boat Festival, are associated with fertility and were worn as amulets by women. The brilliant red colour of the pomegranate flowers is also the colour of joy.
Compare to an almost identical dish of the same size, sold at Christie’s London, 17 June 2003, lot 24. A slightly smaller Wanli wucai dish with similar theme but differently rendered with Zhang Tianshi surrounded by all the ‘Five Poisons’ is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, no. 47. The current dish also relates to somewhat larger Wanli wucai dishes in the collections of the Percival David Foundation and the Tianminlou Foundation (illustrated by R. Scott & R. Kerr in Ceramic Evolution in the Middle Ming Period, V&A and Percival David Foundation, London, 1994, p. 22, no. 25; L.A. Cort & J. Stuart, Joined Colors, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1993, p. 130, no. 57, respectively), which have the theme of the Five Poisonous Creatures on the back and another aspect of the Duanwujie festival - dragon boat races - on the interior.
Compare to an almost identical dish of the same size, sold at Christie’s London, 17 June 2003, lot 24. A slightly smaller Wanli wucai dish with similar theme but differently rendered with Zhang Tianshi surrounded by all the ‘Five Poisons’ is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1999, no. 47. The current dish also relates to somewhat larger Wanli wucai dishes in the collections of the Percival David Foundation and the Tianminlou Foundation (illustrated by R. Scott & R. Kerr in Ceramic Evolution in the Middle Ming Period, V&A and Percival David Foundation, London, 1994, p. 22, no. 25; L.A. Cort & J. Stuart, Joined Colors, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1993, p. 130, no. 57, respectively), which have the theme of the Five Poisonous Creatures on the back and another aspect of the Duanwujie festival - dragon boat races - on the interior.