By the mid-fifteenth century, Chinese ceramics was virtually synonymous with blue-and-white porcelains in the Middle East and in Europe. In fact, while blue-and-white wares of Jingdezhen were immensely popular among the Timurids, Mughals and other Muslim khanates to the west, they attracted scant attention from the Ming imperial court until much later. Mostly, these wares were created for the lucrative international market, and for diplomatic gifts.¹

This dish is notable for its "bunches of grapes" design. The grapes themselves are rendered with heavily painted glaze that creates dark black spots, an effect known in English translation from the Chinese as "heap-and-pile." The grapes are surrounded by a wave pattern on the outer rim, and a series of twelve different types of flowers on the inner rim.² While the grape motif originally is of foreign origin, it has a very long history in China, and is believed to have been transmitted through textile patterns as early as the Han period. Grape wine was also not unknown in Ming China, though it was not regularly consumed; this is in strong contrast with the Tang period, when grape wine was imported in great quantities by Silk Road traders, and even made domestically.

This plate is one of a series that was made specifically for foreign consumption, or possibly for high quality tribute. The plate is marked with an inscription indicating it was at one time in the collection of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in the year 1643-44.³

(1) From the page dedicated to this object on the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco web site.

(2) Ibid.

(3) Ibid.