Ming presentation porcelain was a variety of high quality

Chinese porcelain Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the Palaeolithic era. Chinese ceramics range from constru ...

items included among the gifts exchanged in foreign relations during the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

. Among the great number and variety of

Chinese ceramics Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since Chinese Neolithic, pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the List of Palaeolithic sites in China, ...

found in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

and greater

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

is a variety that closely resembles Ming official ware in its use of dragon and phoenix motifs and high quality materials with workmanship. The scholar Liu Liangyou in an article entitled “Chinese Ceramics Excavated in Thailand” in the 49th issue of the ''National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art'', suggested that such finely executed ceramics could only be products of an official workshop and part of the gift system in place for Ming Dynasty foreign relations. Liang quotes the ''Ming Dynastic History'' (

Mingshi The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the ''Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It ...

) 339th chapter for Champa and Cambodia (Zhancheng Zhenla zhuan) for the year 1383. The Ming court presented

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

(Thailand) nineteen thousand items of ceramic ware. Three years later it is also noted that the court presented Cambodia with an unspecified quantity of ceramic items. We can assume that the number of items was significant also and the time period for such exchanged continued at least through the early Ming dynastic period. The blue-and-white phoenix dish reproduced here, and discovered in Southeast Asia, is identical to the example in the

Boston Museum of Fine Arts The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

, dated mid 15th century.

Xuande Mark and Period

Within all periods of the Ming Dynasty, the Xuande mark and period (1426-35) is often considered to be one of the most sophisticated periods in the history of Chinese Blue and White porcelain crafts.

Notes

References

*Liu Liang-yu, “Chinese Ceramics Excavated in Thailand,” in ''National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art'', Taipei, 1987, pp. 81–86. *

Jan Fontein Jan Fontein (22 May 1927 – 19 May 2017) was a Dutch art historian and former museum director. From 1966 to 1992 he served as curator of Asiatic art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Fontein was its director from 1975 to 1987. Career Fontein wa ...

, ''Oriental Ceramics'', vol. 10, Boston, 1980, plate 220. {{Ming dynasty topics Chinese porcelain Ming dynasty art