Notes:
When an image of this dish was shown to the Palace museum in Taiwan the conclusion was that it was Kangxi. The underglaze blue is not a Wanli blue but a Kangxi blue; the Wanli examples have better drawn borders encompassing the lança character; the shape in the Wanli version is much more pronounced; it was deeper
Example
Similar dishes can be found in the collections of the British Museum (1984,0202.6; Franks 297+), illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001 (plates 11.101; 11.102); the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol.1, Hong Kong, 1963 (plate 20); The Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Lu Minghua Ming Imperial Porcelain, Shanghai, 2007 (plate 3-94) and The Baur Collection, included in John Ayers, The Baur Collection: Ming Porcelains and Other Wares, vol.II, Geneva, 1969 (plate A185)
Tibetan Buddhism, which stemmed from the Mahayana tradition in India but also incorporates tantric Vajrayana practices and elements of Theravada discipline, exerted a strong influence in Asia from around the 11th century. The Mongols invaded Tibet in 1240 and 1244, eventually incorporating it into the Mongol Empire and adopting Tibetan Buddhism, the variant favoured by Kublai Khan, as the de facto state religion during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Mongol patronage resulted in the compilation and translation of numerous Tibetan texts, as well as the creation of artworks and utensils connected with monastic practices. Tibet regained independence after the fall of the Mongol Yuan dynasty, but the influence of Tibetan Buddhism persisted in China and continued to be patronised and practiced by Ming elites. It has been suggested that these distinctive lotus dishes dating from the Wanli period, during which the Emperor attempted to re-establish relations with Tibet, were made to hold offerings at temples, with the stylised characters on the outer petal tips possibly forming part of a mantra. As in other Buddhist schools and variations, the lotus is a key symbol within the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, representing the Buddha and bodhisattvas who rise from their worldly connections like the white flower from the mud, pure and unstained. The sixteen petals of this dish could be a reference to the Sixteen Arhats, a group of disciples who remained in this world to preserve and promote Buddhist teachings between the departure of the historical Buddha Gautama and the arrival of the future Buddha Maitreya. The number of Arhats varies according to sect and location, but the tradition of sixteen figures, which can be traced back to a fourth century Sanskrit text, was particularly popular in Tibet, where the iconography of the sixteen ‘sthavira’ permeated the artwork and rituals associated with Tibetan Buddhism.
