T houghtfully designed and meticulously carved with guri scrolls through layers of lacquer, this early Ming dish evokes aesthetics rooted in the Song and Yuan dynasties. The artisans skillfully arranged a ring of classic scrolls that encircle a spiralling central pattern and a band of half guri motif on the exterior, creating a balanced design which complements the elegant octofoil form resembling a blooming mallow. The simplicity and fluency of the carving on this exceptional object is a testament to the mastery of imperial decorative arts in the Xuande reign.

Guri is a Japanese term used to describe the geometric scroll pattern seen on this piece. This design is also known as a 'pommel scroll' pattern, for the bracket-shaped scroll which resembles the pommel of a Chinese sword. Such patterns were cut with a deep V-shaped profile through alternate layers of different-coloured lacquer – a technique in Chinese known as tixi (through-cut lacquer). As geometric designs like pommel scrolls were carved into the lacquer, the layered colours, such as black, red or yellow, are revealed in the grooves. This ingenious technique appears to have developed around the time of the Song dynasty and reached its perfection in the latter half of that period, as evidenced by various objects of this type unearthed from Song tombs in recent decades.

Guri-decorated lacquerware continued to enjoy popularity through the Yuan dynasty, but by the time of the Ming dynasty, it was increasingly overshadowed by the prevalence of other designs, such as figures in landscapes. In fact, it is extremely rare to find a marked imperial guri lacquerware such as the present piece in the early Ming dynasty. Furthermore, the extant Ming dynasty unmarked guri examples tend to adopt conventional design formula. These dishes are normally carved with classic ‘pommel scrolls’ radiating from a central floret with mushroom-shaped petals. See for example a bracket-lobed dish in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art attributed to the early Ming dynasty, 14th century to the first half of the 15th century, accession no. M.87.203. On the contrary, the spiralling foliate scrolls on the present dish, which pleasingly form rotational symmetry, are unusual for the period.

The conforming mallow form of the foot, following a style from preceding periods, is rare in the Ming dynasty. For an example with a foot of corresponding floral shape, see an unmarked 15th century black lacquer tixi charger in the form of a twelve-petalled lotus, carved with traditional guri scrolls radiating from a central floret and modelled with lobes subtly continuing on the exterior and the foot, exhibited in 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Art Gallery, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1993, cat. no. 29.

For related Yuan dynasty tixi lobed dishes, see a large 14th century cinnabar lacquer octofoil example formerly in the Lee family collection and sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st December 2009, lot 1809, exhibited in Drache und Phoenix - Lackarbeiten aus China: Sammlung der Familie Lee, Tokyo, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst der Stadt Köln, Köln, 1990, cat. no. 8, and again in 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, op.cit., cat. no. 27.

剔犀葵式盤，造形優雅，工藝妙絕，巧雕如意雲紋，作於早明，猶彰顯深植宋元時期之審美。盤內以四組卷草紋，由四方向中心開展，環繞盤心迴圈式卷紋，盤沿綴一圈如意雲紋，排列成八方葵式盤口，宛似盛開葵花輪廓。雕漆風格簡約流暢，展現宣德御製漆藝之精妙。

剔犀，或日本稱「屈輪」，指稱本品回紋式幾何紋樣，又稱劍環紋，因雲紋的雙回紋造形類似古劍之劍環。此類漆作髹以厚實漆層，漆層色彩如黑、朱、黃，排列別出心裁，以寬V形深槽雕刻，切面展現各層漆色，呼應紋飾優美線條。剔犀工藝始於宋代，南宋時發展至巔峰，近代宋墓出土文物可為證。

元代剔犀漆藝仍十分盛行，直至明初，逐漸被其他裝飾風格取代，如山水人物。因此，如同本品之早明御製剔犀漆作，帶年款者，可謂鳳毛麟角，極為珍稀。再者，存世明代無款剔犀漆作，款式多因循舊例，盤心四朵雲頭紋排列如花，周繞劍環紋，放射狀層層排列，參考洛杉磯郡藝術博物館藏一例菱口盤，斷為早明十四世紀至十五世紀前期，館藏編號 M.87.203。本品搭配卷草紋，其方向性更添紋飾動感，當朝少見。

本品圈足亦作葵形，屬前朝風格，明代較罕，相類作例參考一件十五世紀烏漆剔犀大盤，十二蓮瓣紋造形，盤面紋飾類同上述洛杉磯藏例，蓮瓣式口向外壁延伸至足，展出於《中國漆藝二千年》，香港東方陶瓷學會，香港中文大學文物館，1993年，編號29。

相類元代作例，如李氏家族珍藏一件十四世紀八方盤，2009年12月1日售於香港佳士得，編號1809，展出於《Drache und Phoenix - Lackarbeiten aus China: Sammlung der Familie Lee, Tokyo, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst der Stadt Köln》，科隆，1990年，編號8，及《中國漆藝二千年》，前述出處，編號27。