The Dishes

The familiar scene on these dishes first appeared on porcelain made in the bustling port of Canton in South China. Such dishes, now called Cantonware, were the original inspiration for Blue Willow patterns made by numerous factories in Europe. These early 19th-century examples have characteristic scallops (sometimes called clouds) along the outer border; this distinguishes Cantonware from similar pottery made in the city of Nanking. The hollow plate with spouts held hot water to warm food.

 

Chinese porcelain exported to other Asian countries was painted with scenes from familiar folk stories, Buddhist symbols, stylized plants and animals, and Chinese-character poems.

 

This plate, painted for the European market, has an ornate border and floral motif. The Western concept of art values individual expression, whereas Asian artists often strive to produce the most perfect example of a subject, painting similar pieces over hundreds of years.

 

China's earliest pieces of export porcelain were made for Islamic countries. Vines and intertwined floral motifs indicate pieces made for this market, where animal and human representations were rarely seen. Early pieces included Arabic writing, which was later simplified to stylized squiggles. The kendi is a typical Middle Eastern shape water vessel.

 

These late-Ming Dynasty pieces share typically thick, soft-looking glaze with a bluish tint but were made for different markets. The Asian bowl shows a deer, bat, and Chinese characters with a man whose overly large head connotes wisdom and longevity. The Europe-bound bowl depicts an Asian artisan's idea of a Western woman -- a sight he had probably never seen -- hence the long toes, oversize hat, and garments that look like the pantaloons worn by burly Portuguese sailors.

 

Beautifully painted bowls were stacked in barrels and used as ballast in the holds of Portuguese sailing ships (called caraccas but commonly known as kraaks). Today, this category is called kraak porcelain. Look for delicate walls, evenly spaced segments, and a floral or landscape center. These three bowls with slightly scalloped edges were all made in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty.