Large plate with dragon among clouds

Every detail on this piece indicates that it is part of the stylistic trend that sought to revive the longquan celadon ware of the Song-Yuan dynasty. The decorative scheme consists of a shallow-relief dragon within clouds on the interior bottom and lotus petals encircling the outside, all motifs which originated on the longquan celadons. The most revealing indication that this is a Qing dynasty reproduction of an early style is the deliberately applied brown slip on the footring edge, which imitates the naturally occurring discoloration of longquan high iron content clay when it is fired in a reducing atmosphere. Here, the brown slip hides the white clay of Jingdezhen.