1-234-459 - The Museum of East Asian Art/Heritage Images

Wucai dish with song birds, Ming dynasty, China, 1573-1620. Large wucai shallow dish with everted rim decorated in the centre with a pair of red-breasted birds with long plummage. One of the birds is perched on a rock, the other is in flight amidst a fruiting peach tree and flowering peony plant. There are two smaller chattering song birds beneath a double line border. The exterior has a wide scrolling band of underglaze blue kui dragons and lingzhi. The base has a six-character underglaze blue Wanli mark and the piece is of the period. 'Wucai' literally means 'five colours' and is the term given to late Ming ceramics decorated in underglaze blue and overglaze ceramics.'