..... |
This is a very important porcelain. As
the Annam Vase is to the 15th century, this dish
is just as important to the 14th century, born from legend, and having been
made specifically for the Court of Hongwu.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no
authenticated porcelain pieces
baring the Hongwu reign mark. Even thermoluminescent testing would not
help, since it's accuracy range gives too wide a berth to distinguish
between late Yuan and early Ming. Of the thousands of shards unearthed from
the Hongwu stratum during the many excavations conducted at Zhushan
over the years, not one piece contains a Hongwu reign mark. Even Hobson
questioned two rare pieces housed at the British Museum, stating that
one was "almost certainly a Japanese imitation". The first mark
in fact suggesting Ming Imperial quality was from the Yongle stratum,
and that mark was the image of a dragon, not a reign
mark.
Any piece proclaimed authentic Hongwu not
baring a mark identifying it as Ming, is only a guess. The Anhui Dish
stands alone in this category and is quite possibly the first known example
of Hongwu Imperial porcelain. |
..... |
)
.
.
