Dish with Foliated Rim and Design of Floral Scrolls, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403–1424). Jingdezhen ware; porcelain with underglaze cobalt blue decoration, 6 x 33.8 cm; diameter of foot: 22.5 cm. Saint Louis Art Museum, Bequest of Samuel C. Davis, by exchange, 13:2008.

During the early 15th century, blue-and-white wares such as this dish were made at the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen, located in southeastern China. These ceramics display extraordinary whiteness of the porcelain body, elegant shapes, beautifully painted and pleasingly balanced designs, and smooth transparent glazes. The center of this dish is visually anchored by a lotus flower and surrounded by five seasonal blossoms (mallow, dianthus, camellia, lotus, and chrysanthemum), all on slender interlaced stems. Encircling the center are 12 additional sprays of flowers. The foliated rim has a frieze of breaking waves while the exterior is decorated with 12 detached floral and fruit sprays. The underglaze cobalt paint is an inky blue-black tone, with the so-called heaped and piled effect, a reference to the inkiness that results where the applied cobalt was oversaturated.