2-738-010 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Plate with Zhou Maoshu Admiring Lotus Flowers, late 17th century. Many artists typically applied the theme of the "four loves," which includes the lotus, to sliding-door paintings and screens. This plate borrows the motif from painting and applies it to the kakiemon type of multicolour porcelain, portraying the Chinese Song Neo-Confucian scholar Zhou Dunyi (also known as Zhou Maoshu) appreciating the lotus. Humorously, the Japanese potter depicted Zhou seemingly appreciating both the lotus and the young lady with a lotus on the boat.