Blue-and-white Plate after Xuande Style with Design of Pine, Bamboo and Prunus

The plate has a flared-mouth with double lines around it, a slightly curved wall and a foot ring. On the interior within the double blue-and-white borders is painted pines, bamboos and prunus against a garden rock with Lingzhi and grasses. On the exterior are painted several figures in the garden surrounded by rocks, potted landscapes, balustrades and trees. A lady quietly sits while two children play happily. On the bottom is a blue-and-white seal in seal script that translates “Made in Qianlong period of Qing dynasty”.
During the Qianlong period when ancient styles were rejuvenated, Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln manufactured blue-and-white plates with designs of pine, bamboo and prunus after the Xuande period of the Ming dynasty. They are of identical shape, size and designs as the genuine ones, some of which have no seals while others have seals including ones that read “Made in Xuande period of Ming dynasty” and “Made in Qianlong period of Qing dynasty”.
Compared with the plates of the Xuande period which are characterized by dark blue-and-white glaze that gives an impression of ink-wash, imitations have whiter ground and brighter blue-and-white glaze. Moreover, the imitations’ interior designs are smaller than the originals. The painter had to express the rocks’ three-dimensionality with texture dots with the result that the rocks are stiff and the figures have become somewhat mannered. In short, the blue-and-white plates of the Xuande period are characterized by easiness and elegance while the imitations of the Qianlong period are idiosyncratic.