Potted along conventional lines, this dish has shallow rounded sides, a flared everted rim and a tapering foot. An unusual combination of colours makes it rather rare. Comical Buddhist lion-dogs, pursuing brocade balls, are reserved against an iron-red ground and painted in green enamel with black enamel outlines and details following the same technique as BM 1930.0719.48. Marked on the base with a six-character underglaze blue Jiajing reign mark arranged in two vertical rows of six characters. Overglaze iron-red enamel has a tendency to wear away, hence the bald patches on the object.

Porcelain Lion dogs dish with green enamel reserved on a red ground, Ming dynasty, Jiajing mark and period (1522-1566), diam 15,5 cm, height 2,9 cm. Donated by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks, Franks.484.+ © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum

Potted along conventional lines, this dish has shallow rounded sides, a flared everted rim and a tapering foot. An unusual combination of colours makes it rather rare. Comical Buddhist lion-dogs, pursuing brocade balls, are reserved against an iron-red ground and painted in green enamel with black enamel outlines and details following the same technique as BM 1930.0719.48. Marked on the base with a six-character underglaze blue Jiajing reign mark arranged in two vertical rows of six characters, it has a badly chipped rim. Overglaze iron-red enamel has a tendency to wear away, hence the bald patches on the object.

Note: The Chinese word for lion, 'shi zi', is probably derived from the Persian 'sir' and it was only through contact with the West that the Chinese became familiar with the animal. Images of lions became more widespread with the introduction of Buddhism to China in the Han dynasty. Mythical lions, 'shi zi', were believed to act as a talisman against demons. Yan Suihou wrote in the Tang dynasty that the lion 'not only delights the eye with its beauty, but it also protects us against demons even a thousand miles away'. Another dish of this type is in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Harrison-Hall 2001 9:96.