In the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., there is a painting of the Madonna and Child painted by the Italian painter Francesco Benaglio in 1460.
Madonna and Child (1460) |Collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Let's take a closer look at the lower right corner.
This is a porcelain bowl with fruit.
Doesn't it sound familiar?
It turned out to be the same model of our Yongle blue and white lotus seed bowl.
Ming Yongle blue and white lotus seed bowl |Sotheby's Hong Kong on 8 April 2013, realised 6,640,000 HKD
It seems that as early as the mid-15th century, Europeans were able to use the same lotus seed bowl as ours.
We wrote about how porcelain was "exported" to Europe during the sea embargo, and if you are interested, you can poke here.
Let's continue to talk about the "Lotus Seed Bowl", and dig deep into the mysteries of cultural exchange hidden behind this journey across the ocean.
What is a lotus seed bowl?
The lotus seed bowl, created in the Yongxuan period, is also known as the chicken heart bowl.
In so many different types of bowls, its characteristics are still relatively obvious:
Generally, the mouth is slightly open, the bowl belly is deep, the top is plump and the bottom is constricted, the bottom is pointed, and the foot is small ring.
Ming Xuande sweet white glaze dark lotus petal pattern lotus seed cup |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
In fact, whether it is called a lotus seed bowl or a chicken heart bowl, it is summarized according to the characteristics of its shape.
It is called the lotus seed bowl because its bowl shape resembles a lotus room.
Like?
Left: Ming Xuande blue and white floral pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Right: Ming Wenjia painting lotus root (detail)|Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
It is called a chicken heart bowl because there is a chicken heart-like protrusion on the outside of the bottom of the bowl, which is also an important criterion for identifying lotus seed bowls and chicken heart bowls.
Ming Xuande blue and white floral pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
In terms of ornamentation, most of the lotus seed bowls will be decorated with a circle of back patterns on the edge of the outer wall and the foot of the circle, and a circle of lotus petals will be painted on the bottom edge, and the middle section will be left blank.
Ming Xuande blue and white lotus petal pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
The dark engraving on the sweet white glaze is also a combination of this.
Hollow stripe + lotus petal pattern.
Ming Yongle sweet white glaze engraved lotus seed bowl.
Christie's New York, September 2012, realized: USD 158,500
The back lines inside and outside the mouth edge will also be slightly deformed.
Or replace the combination with petal pattern and wave pattern.
Left: Ming Xuande blue and white lotus petal pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Right: Ming Yongle blue and white lotus petal pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Left: Ming Xuande blue and white lotus petal pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the British Museum.
Right: Ming Xuande blue and white floral pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Lotus petal pattern: Who imitated whom?
At present, it is generally accepted that the Yongxuan lotus seed bowl has borrowed the style of Middle Eastern utensils in the combination and layout of the ornamentation.
On this point, we can look at a comparison.
Mouth edge back stripe + bottom edge lotus petal pattern
Mamluk brass bowl with lotus petal pattern (1468-1496).
Collection of the V&A Museum.
Petal pattern on the edge of the mouth + lotus petal pattern on the bottom edge
Mamluk brass bowl with lotus petal pattern (1468-1496).
Collection of the Metropolitan Museum.
The lotus petals are drawn in a somewhat similar way:
A circle will be added to the lotus petal.
Left: Ming Xuande blue and white lotus petal pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Right: Ilkhanian Lotus Petal Bowl (1300-1350) |Collection of the British Museum.
But in fact, if you just look at the lotus petal pattern at the bottom, it has been very common on porcelain in the Song Dynasty.
Northern Song Dynasty Ding kiln white porcelain lotus petal scratch flower pan pan plate |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Narrower lotus petals.
It is also more similar to the lotus petals on the Yongxuan lotus seed bowl.
Jinding kiln white porcelain lotus petal pattern bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Therefore, in the matter of using lotus petal ornamentation, it is really difficult to say who learned whom.
After all, the porcelain footprints of the Yongxuan period have spread as far as Central and Western Asia, and even as we mentioned at the beginning, even Europe in 1460 had used lotus seed bowls.
Let's take a look at the lotus seed bowl that has appeared in the "Chinese Porcelain Collection of Adbil Temple in Iran".
Early 15th century blue and white lotus petal pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of Adbil Temple, Iran.
This can also indirectly prove that the lotus seed bowl of the same type of "Madonna" in 1460 may have used the Middle East as a transit point to reach Europe.
A variety of lotus petals on a lotus seed bowl
Personally, I think the best thing about the lotus seed bowl in the Yongxuan period is:
It not only imitates the lotus room in the shape of the instrument, but also draws lotus petals on the ornamentation.
The two aspects together emphasize and highlight the image of the lotus, which in today's words is the one who knows how to "cut the topic" best.
So let's put aside the question of who imitated whom for a moment, and focus on the lotus petals in the lotus seed bowl.
What kind of styles have been deformed and derived?
One of the most common.
Single-layer lotus petals. Ming Yongle blue and white four seasons floral pattern lotus seed bowl.
Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Ming Xuande kiln blue and white lotus petal floral pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Double-layered lotus petals. Ming Xuande kiln blue and white lotus petal floral pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Ming Xuande blue and white pattern lotus seed bowl |Christie's Hong Kong in May 2013, realised for HKD 7,470,000
Transform the ring to paint lotus petals.
This kind of lotus petal will have some differences in the details.
Ming Xuande blue and white lotus petal lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Ming Xuande blue and white lotus seed bowl |April 2013 Sotheby's Hong Kong, realised: 4,600,000 HKD
Ming Xuande blue and white lotus petal lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Lotus petal + peach pattern surrounding.
This one is most like the Middle Eastern style.
Ming Yongle blue and white geometric floral pattern lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
At the beginning of the 15th century of the Ming Dynasty, the blue and white lotus petal pattern lotus seed tea bell |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Ming Yongle blue and white lotus seed bowl |
April 2013 Sotheby's Hong Kong, realised price 6,640,000 HKD
Lotus petal + petal tip ornamentation.
This one is also very Middle Eastern style.
Ming Xuande blue and white lotus seed bowl |Christie's Hong Kong, November 2013.
Price realised: 6,640,000 HKD
Ming Xuande kiln blue and white lotus seed bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Let's go back to the trajectory of the spread of the lotus petal pattern at the end of the article, perhaps to broaden the timeline again.
Following the clue of the lotus petal pattern, we may be able to find a more long-term path of civilization exchange.
Since the introduction of Buddhism into China, this lotus petal element has begun to appear in Buddhist grottoes.
They are frequently used on cave tops or on the thrones of Buddha statues.
Dunhuang Cave 85 Cave Roof.
Dunhuang Cave 220 West Wall Niche.
Influenced by the art of the caves, craftsmen also began to adopt the design of lotus petals in the decoration of porcelain.
We can see the lotus petal pattern on the utensils at the mouth of various kilns in the Song Dynasty.
Left: Song Longquan kiln celadon lotus petal pattern bowl |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
Right: Northern Song Dynasty Ding kiln white porcelain flower lotus petal pattern water sheng |Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei.
In fact, the lotus petal pattern is not an exclusive design of Buddhist civilization, and we can also see similar lotus petal patterns in ancient Greek architecture.
Temple of Apollo.
Lotus petal + palm leaf combination.
Gradually, it has also become a common ornamental design in Western architecture.
upper right design of cornice, frieze, and architr**e
Collection of the New York Public Library.
It can also be found on artifacts from ancient Greece.
Left: Greek silver bowl from the 6th century BC.
Right: Greek copper bowl from the 5th-4th centuries BC.
Collection of the Metropolitan Museum.
There are also utensils in the two river basins.
Iran 8th-7th century BC Silver bowl |Collection of the Metropolitan Museum.
We can certainly attribute these similarities and coincidences to the exchange and spread between civilizations, but I am more inclined to think:
Since time immemorial, human beings have had a high degree of consensus in the face of true beauty.
So it's quite possible:
People from the Mediterranean region, the two river basins, and the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins all gave Lotus Petal a thumbs up.
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