A Chinese imperial porcelain white-glazed dish. Jiajing mark and period. Photo Marchant 

of conical form with gently flaring rim, incised in the centre with a single lotus flowerhead amongst leafy branches, the underside with a continuous scrolling branch of four lotus flowerheads amongst leaves and scrolling branches. 6 inches, 15.3 cm diameter. The base with a four-character mark of Jiajing in underglaze blue within a double ring and of the period, 1522-1566. Price on request

Sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in their auction of Important Chinese Ceramics, 14th November 1983, no. 108. 

Sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in their auction of Important Chinese Ceramics, 20th May 1987, no. 432.

It is rare to find dishes both of this form and decoration with a four-character mark of Jiajing. This dish must be very early in the period as the shape, style of the calligraphy and the thick bluish glaze on the base are reminiscent of Zhengde-period wares.

The lotus, he, lian, or shui furong, is the flower of the 6th month, the flower of summer. It is the Asian symbol of purity because the flower emerges from the mud unstained. The different parts of the lotus bear auspicious meanings. The flower, known variously as hehua or lianhua, symbolizes marriage. He is a pun for ‘harmony’ and lian a pun for ‘continuous’ or ‘successive’ as in “the continuous birth of illustrious sons”.

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