Large Chinese Blue and White Plate, Kangxi (1662-1722)

Ref: W359

Archive item - not for sale

Large Chinese blue and white plate, Kangxi (1662-1722)/early Yongzheng (1723 -35), decorated in fine underglaze cobalt blue with a central roundel containing a scene from ‘The Romance of the Western Chamber’, the cavetto with a band of diaper patter with chrysanthemum heads and four cartouches with pairs of books and musical jade stone; the rim with cell diaper pattern and large cartouches containing further beribboned precious objects connected with scholarship, including scrolls and papers amongst flowering peony and bamboo, the reverse with two stylised branches of bamboo.

Dimensions:

Diameter: 34cm

Condition:

Small frit to the rim and small frit to the foot rim.

Notes:

The Romance of the Western Chamber was adapted from a tale by Yuan Dynasty writer Wang Shifu (1271-1368), and came to be one of the most popular classical Chinese love stories. Depicted on this plate is the scene at the end of the story when the male protagonist Zhang Sheng has passed the civil service examination, proving to be a great scholar and fulfilling the condition upon which his marriage to his lover YingYing depends. The symbolism of the plate’s decoration is in accord with this theme of scholarly success, and is a celebration of academic pursuit and success in love.