A Ming porcelain saucer–dish and cup

The saucer-dish of Chinese porcelain, painted in underglaze blues, show a variation on a popular late Ming scene: two prancing deer with a bird under a pine tree. It is datable by its style to c. 1585-1600, and is among the finest examples of Elizabethan porcelain known in Britain. The cup, decorated with simple linework, dates to the early 17th century. They were recovered from a stone-lined pit during excavation prior to the construction of the Guildhall Shopping Centre in 1972-3.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum