2. A RARE BLUE AND WHITE CIRCULAR ‘LAOZI AND OX’ DISH, MING DYNASTY, TIANQI PERIOD (1620-1627)

明天啟 青花老子騎牛北斗七星圖盤

The steep rounded sides rising from a short tapered foot to an everted rim, the interior painted with Daoist Laozi riding an ox against Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper, with a boy seated on a rocky ledge, Japanese wood box

Diameter: 20.3cm 

Provenance: Purchased in Tokyo, 2013; Mujintang Collection.

This dish is painted in fairly free and spontaneous style and the artist has used various thinner washes of blue to give some tonal variation and a sense of depth to the scene. The design is quite striking as the painted areas contrast strongly with the large areas of white that are left free of paint. For a design of the Seven Stars, see Ink Gardenof the Cheng Family, published 1595, p. 44, illustrated below.