Plate

The plate is complete, with only a few small chips missing from the rim. The plate is circular with a plain rim. The rim slopes slightly inwards, the wall is low and the base is flat. The plate rests on a small milled foot in line with the outer wall, which is slightly curved and free of glaze. The decoration is hand-painted in underglaze blue and overglaze red, with gilding and green, in the Imari style. It is of the medallion and armorial plant type. The painted decoration is visible on the marli, on the inner wall and background, and on the reverse of the plate. The frieze is bordered by a blue ring near the rim. The decoration occupies the entire width of the marli. It consists of two distinct elements. Near the edge, there is a narrow frieze of Ruyi heads outlined in red. The remaining part of the border is highlighted by a ring drawn in red at the base of the border, and is covered by a gilded background decorated in reserve with a row of flowers joined by branching and leafy scrolls. These elements are traced in red and painted red, as are some of the leaves; the other leaves are painted faded green. The flowers are of two types, sometimes placed alternately. The main decoration of the marli, however, remains an armorial element. It consists of a lady’s shield azure with a feline rampant Or and three mullets Or, i.e. a solid disk painted dark blue, on which a feline (lion or panther) is painted in gold, and which is surrounded by three mullets arranged in a triangle. The shield is supported on the right and left by two three-lobed elements outlined in black, with a green background and scrolls outlined in black. At the top and base, the shield is surrounded by red scrolls. The background decoration is surrounded by a double ring in blue at the top of the wall. The decoration consists of four identical leafy elements, traced and painted in blue and arranged in a cross. They are linked by leafy scrolls traced and painted in blue, to which small scrolls and leaves traced and painted in red have been added. The central medallion is encircled by a double ring; it consists of three pomegranates arranged in a triangle, traced in red and painted gold, from which emerge three leafy stems traced and painted blue, which enclose at their apex a pomegranate painted in succession to those in the center. The reverse of the plate’s border features two long stems outlined in blue and decorated with flowers outlined and painted in red. The rim of the plate is covered with an iron-brown coating.