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Plate, the flat rim with a bracket-lobed edge, the base with some grit. On the interior centre in a pot on a tiled terrace in front of a balustrade a pine, its trunk shaped like the character shou (Longevity), prunus and bamboo in the background, the three commonly called the Three Friends of Winter. The well plain, the rim with rocks, flowering sprays, mice, a frog and a snake. On the reverse opposing branches with birds, four flower heads with two tendrils each under the rim.
This dish is painted with imagery referring to longevity: the pine trunk in the form of the character shou and the Three friends of Winter. The decoration reflects the preoccupations of the period. In the imagery of the character, formed out of a tree two values held in high esteem in China come together: nature and the art of writing. Representations of a tree shaped like a character, be it a pine, a prunus, a peach or bamboo, remained popular until the end of the century as two jars aboard the San Diego (1600) attest. An identical dish is in the Santos Palace in Lisbon. A bottle in the form of a double gourd with an image of a tree trunk in the form of the character shou is in the British Museum. The Topkapi Saray collection houses a bowl and a dish with this decoration.
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