2-727-202 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Dish with Chinese Figures in a Garden, 1700s. This decorative porcelain—mass-produced for the export market in Europe—is inscribed with a poem from The Gateless Gate or The Gateless Barrier ( Wuwen kuan in Chinese and Mumonkan in Japanese) by the Chinese Chan (Zen) master Wumen Huihai (1183-1260). The inscription reads, "I always remember the spring in the south. Where the partridges sing; how fragrant the countless flowers!"