Red Lotus Leave Shaped Dish

Qianlong period, Qing Dynasty
Height: 3.5cm
Diameter of month: 21.4*16.5cm

The lotus leaf shaped dish is coated with red lacquer and carved with water motifs. The polished center of the dish is round, symbolizing a full moon. The moon is coated with yellow lacquer, on which a picture of "the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine in a mortar" is painted in gold relief. In the picture, the Jade Rabbit is pounding medicine under a sweet osmanthus tree. It is a scene in the mythological legend about the moon palace. The bottom of the dish is coated with black lacquer, with the dish name of "the moon above the sea" and its creation time of "Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty" in regular script chiseled in the middle.

This dish is a masterful work combining the two techniques of lacquer carving and multicolored lacquer work with gold relief. In the lacquer ware making of the Qing Dynasty, it was common to apply various techniques and skills to achieve a unique artistic effect.