Soup plate

The plate is complete; it is missing around the rim and has been repaired with metal studs. The plate is circular with a plain rim. The rim slopes slightly inwards, the wall is low and the bottom is flat and recessed. The plate rests on a small ring-shaped foot, which is free of glaze. The plate is broken and has been repaired with metal spikes. The reverse of the plate features six pairs of drilled holes, each holding a copper metal spike ; The decoration is hand-painted in blue underglaze and red overglaze, with touches of gilding, in the Imari style. It is of the vegetal and scenic oriental garden type. The painted decoration is visible on both the inner and outer walls. The decoration on the marli is composed of two different elements. Near the edge, there is a braid traced in blue and trimmed with a lattice of lozenges traced in blue. The other is made up of six groups of similar floral elements arranged in a star pattern. Each consists of a leafy, flowering plant traced and painted in blue; each is trimmed with flowers and leaves traced and painted in red with gold highlights. The central decoration is surrounded by a double ring traced in blue and features a garden scene, with a two-panel fence resting on a straight terrace. The terrace is traced in blue and painted in faded red, while the fence is traced in blue and painted in blue and red; the panels are adorned with a poly-lobed opening. The terrace also features an elongated rock with a hole, symbolizing the Chinese philosophy of Taoism, outlined and painted in blue. Behind the boulder stands a leafy, flowering shrub, traced and painted blue, and trimmed with flowers and leaves traced in red and painted red and gold. Behind the fence rise bamboo plants, traced in blue and painted blue and red. In one of the bamboos stands a bird traced in red and painted in red and gold, while another bird painted in the suite twirls above the shrub. The rim of the plate is covered with an iron-brown coating.