Dish with fish design Jingdezhen, southeast China Ming dynasty, about AD 1506-1566

The designs on this dish were added after the first firing and sit on top of the glaze. The fish symbolises wealth, because the Chinese word for fish (yu) sounds the same as the word for ‘abundance’. Because fish lay up to hundreds of thousands of eggs at a time, the fish also signifies the birth of many children. Porcelain, polychrome overglaze enamel decoration. Bequeathed by Mr F. P. M. Schiller.