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The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Chelsea Porcelain Factory, London (manufacturer)
Octagonal dish (1752-1755)
porcelain (soft-paste)
3.9 × 23.6 cm diameter
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
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Octagonal dish
(1752-1755)
Medium
porcelain (soft-paste)
Measurements
3.9 × 23.6 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The central decoration on this dish comprises the auspicious Chinese symbols of plum blossom, pine and bamboo, traditionally referred to as the ‘three friends of winter’. The plants were symbolic of perseverance and resilience with their ability to survive harsh winters. The motif occurred often on Japanese Kakiemon porcelains and was widely imitated by European factories. Below the three friends of winter is the so-called ‘banded hedge’, another standard motif on Japanese kakiemon porcelain. Made from bundles of millet, the banded hedge was a type of fence in Japanese garden design that also served to guide the visitor’s view of the garden. It was sometimes copied faithfully on European porcelains but was at times interpreted as a wheat sheaf, a form more familiar to European artists.