Note: This beautifully composed lotus bouquet motif is one of the classic designs of the early Ming period. Dishes of this design come in different sizes and slightly different design although the larger size dish usually comes with a wave border. A similar dish, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 665, was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 31st October 1974, lot 70. See another dish of this type, from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, included in the exhibition Blue and White: Chinese Porcelain and Its Impact on the Western World, University of Chicago, Chicago, 1985, cat. no. 21, where John Carswell notes that the informal, asymmetrical arrangement of the central bouquet and the generally naturalistic feeling illustrate the new spirit in the concept of decorating blue and white in the early fifteenth century.