Gao Zhiming - Dish - Softpaste porcelain - Tai Kowloon plate 47 cm

Grand Porcelain Plate Enameled with Imperial Five-Clawed Dragon Decoration – Taiwan, 20th Century – Diameter 47 cm (With pedestal)

This monumental polychrome enameled porcelain plate is richly raised with high-relief decoration (Fencai technique / enamels of the rose family and imperial yellow) along a serpentine, undulating rim. A work of exquisite finesse originating from Taiwan (20th century).

The Imperial Dragon (五爪龍): The central medallion features a majestic five-clawed dragon facing forward (symbol of supreme imperial power) rising in the clouds above turbulent waves and sacred rocks, set against a brilliantly luminous imperial yellow ground.

The Four Auspicious Characters (福祿壽囍): The plate’s wing is adorned with cartouches bearing the traditional good-omen characters:

福 (Fú): Happiness & Fortune

壽 (Shòu): Longevity & Health

囍 (Xǐ): Double Happiness & Harmony

Back of the Workshop: The back is richly enameled with a superb crackled turquoise ground, bearing a poetic calligraphic date (己巳年桐月 - Jisi Year, 3rd lunar month) as well as the artisan’s raised mark « 高枝明製 »

Artist:
Gao Zhiming / Jiao-zhi pottery 交趾陶
Born: 1950 in Chiayi, Taiwan. Training: In 1979 he became the first direct disciple of the great ceramic master Jiao-zhi Lin Tianmu (林添木). Style: He is the fourth-generation representative of this artistic lineage (successor to the renowned founder Ye Wang).
Awards: Recipient of the National Prize for Living Art and Cultural Transmission (Global Chinese Art and Culture-Spirit Award) in 2003. Labeled “Taiwan Craft Home” in 2006. Officially registered as guardian and custodian of Chiayi City’s intangible cultural heritage for the traditional Jiao-zhi ceramic art in 2013.

Nibbles and scattered chips.