Plate with sixteen-foliate panels

The theme of xiniu wangyue ("ox watching the moon"), depicted by a crouching ox gazing the moon among clouds, emerged in ceramics designed at the yaozhou kilns in Shaanxi and the ding kilns in Hebei in the north during the Jin-Yuan period. Southern kilns such as those in Jingdezhen and Longquan employed it on their productions slightly later. Because examples of longquan ware with this motif are so rare, this piece is important as it illustrates the introduction of a particular theme from the north on a southern celadon. In addition to the ox motif, the plate features a shallow basin molded in the form of a cloud-head band along the edge, a chrysanthemum scroll on the sides, and carved lotus petals around the exterior.