The dish measures 8” long by 4 ½” wide at its widest and is 1 ¼” deep. On the base is a six symbol reign mark that has been translated as “Made in Reign of Discrete Virtuous Chia Ching, Ming, 1522-1566. Yet we cannot find this exact mark in any of our reference books on Chinese ceramics. At the same time there is another paper label that describes the piece as “Imari Ware from the Tokugawa Period, 1600-1868. There is an obvious disconnect here between the two labels. We believe it to be and 18th century piece of Japanese origin with an apocryphal reign mark paying homage to the earlier Chinese pottery. Condition is excellent with no chips, hairlines or restorations. The bagua (literally "eight symbols") is a fundamental philosophical concept in ancient China.

The neck has taken on a bit of a lean during the firing though it looks just fine from two angles.