A large famille-verte 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' dish, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 五彩三國人物故事圖大盤

A large famille-verte 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' dish

Qing dynasty, Kangxi period

清康熙 五彩三國人物故事圖大盤

richly painted with a scene from the historic drama Sanguo yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), possibly depicting the Han alchemist Zuo Ci brandishing a sword issuing vapor and a crane at the elaborately dressed warlord Cao Cao, who gestures cautiously towards his adversary and a blue-robed scholar who darts behind, a female attendant nearby pointing a hanging lantern at the crane and another attendant standing at the other side of the bird, the adjacent halls each with two ladies in elegantly appointed surroundings oblivious to the commotion, all framed by a band of 'precious objects' on a diaper ground, the channeled base with a beribboned artemisia leaf in underglaze blue within a double circle

Diameter 15 ¼ in., 38.7 cm