Platter

About 18th century

China, Jiangxi Province

Porcelain painted with underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware)

H. 3 1/2 x Diam. 19 3/4 in. (8.9 x 50.2 cm)

Asia Society, New York: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, 1979.190

The re-creation of earlier ceramic shapes and decorative themes typifies the Chinese ceramic industry, particularly during the Qing dynasty, when many older ceramic traditions were revived. The large size of this platter and its underglaze blue painting of birds perched on flowering branches are like those of early 15th-century ceramics. The stiffness in the treatment of the bird and branches and in the static quality in the depiction of the peony arabesques encircling the cavetto, however, indicate that this platter was probably made in the 18th century.