Lot 108

A large Swatow ware dish, centrally decorated with Chinese characters 'tian xia yi' ('everything under the heavens') in central medallion surrounded by the characters for the 24 points of the Chinese compass in a ring, the cavetto with leaping carp between stylised flowers, China, Late Ming Dynasty, Wanli to Chongzhen period, 1600-1640. From the Kilns in Pinghe or Hua`an Kilns in Heping County, Zhangzhou Prefecture, Fujian Province. A similar dish is in the Art Gallery New South Wales. Literature: Zhangzhou Export Porcelain, the So-Called Swatow Wares (Various authors, Jorge Welsh Books, 2006 ISBN 0-9550992-4-2) page 133, item 28. For another Ming porcelain dish of this design see : Zhanzhou (Swatow) Ceramics, Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries Found in Indonesia (Sumarah Adhyatman, The Ceramic Society of Indonesia,1999) page 147, plate 193. For further Ming dishes with this design see : Swatow (Barbara Harrison, Museum Het Princessehof,1979) plates 104 and 109, for a dish with a different border see 206. Another Ming Swatow porcelain dish with a compass design from the Percival David collection is now in the British Museum, reference PDF 700. A large fragment of a bowl with a similar central design was excavated from the Dongkou kiln site in Wuzhai, Pinhe County -D. 38 cm-