Period:Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi period (1662–1722)
Date:early 18th century
Culture:China
Medium:Porcelain painted with overglaze polychrome enamels (Jingdezhen ware)
Dimensions:H. 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm); Diam. 24 1/8 in. (61.3 cm)
Classification:Ceramics
Credit Line:Bequest of John D. Rockefeller Jr., 1960
Accession Number:61.200.69
Images of women expressing affection for a young scholar by throwing fruit to him, often found in decorative arts, derive from woodblock prints that flourished in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This plate most likely depicts the talented writer Pan An (247–300) being showered with fruit. Unusually, the cart pulled by a white goat, seen below, refers to another handsome young man Wei Jie (286–312), even though he is not associated with fruit. The ceramic artist freely combined the tales into a composite scene.