Swatow ware
(China)
Large dish with design of Chinese characters
- Other titles:
- Swatow ware polychrome dish with design of Chinese characters 'tian xia yi' ('everything under the heavens') in central medallion surrounded by the characters for the 24 points of the Chinese compass in a ring
- Location
- Upper Asian gallery
- Further information
Swatow refers to a large family of coarse provincial porcelains, often with vigorously painted decoration. They were produced in imitation of Kraak porcelains in a number of kilns not far from the port of Shantou (Swatow in Dutch records) in Guangdong province in southern China. Swatow wares are roughly made, often with grit adhering to their foot rims, while their decorations have the freedom and verve characteristic of late Ming ceramics. They have been found along international trade routes of the late 1500s and 1600s. Most typical of Swatow wares are the large dishes, decorated in blue-and-white, polychrome enamels and, less commonly, monochrome colours over a slip decoration.
'Swatow wares', The Asian Collections, AGNSW, 2003, pg.140.
- Place of origin
-
China
- Year
- circa 1600
- Media
- Ceramic
- Medium
- porcelain with enamel decoration, the characters in the central medallion read 'everything under heaven' ('tian xia yi'), surrounded in a circle by the characters for the 24 points of the Chinese compass
- Dimensions
- 8.9 x 37.8cm
- Signature & date
- Not signed. Not dated.
- Credit
- Gift of Anthony Odillo Maher 1998
- Accession number
- 16.1998
