Dish with navigation scene

This large heavily potted dish has painted decoration of iron-red and turquiose enamels with black outlines. The design includes a blue medallion at the centre encircled by Chinese characters in red, which probably represents the 'Ten Heavenly Stems' and 'Twelve Earthly Branches', elements of an ancient Chinese numeral system. This is surrounded by a gigantic fish, two Asian sailing boats, stylised rock and wave formations, and constellations represented by green dots linked with red lines. The design probably depicts a fantastical scene of navigation across the oceans.

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