Ming dynasty · palace palette
Lotus Plate on Imperial Yellow
黄地青花莲塘纹盘 · 明
underglaze cobalt + yellow enamelimperial yellow ground
Cobalt lotus and water plants float on a ground of imperial yellow — a two-firing technique perfected at the Ming court kilns: the blue painted and glazed first, the yellow enamel washed around it and fired again. Yellow was reserved for the palace; commoners could not own it.
The combination is still one of the hardest colour schemes to fire well, and one of the most striking.
Where it lives now 现藏
Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (object B60P1675; photo CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons) — view in the collection →