Dia.: 15 cm

This type of small tea plate was made by special order, in a very small number, for the office of the royal doctor within the Vietnamese Royal Palace of Hue, in the middle of the 19th C.
The base bears a mark in zhuanshu script: 御醫正記, which translates to 'Made as commissioned by the Royal Doctor' or 'Ngự y chính ký'.

Provenance: - The collection of Thomas Ulbrich, Studio Tho, Hanoi-Berlin.

Reference: Published in: DO SU KY KIEU THOI NGUYEN by Dr. Tran Duc Anh Son (2016), page 210:  'The turtle is the third of the tứ linh (four supernatural creatures) and symbol of longevity, energy and endurance. It is the first of all the creatures that have shells. The carapace on the back of the turtle symbolizes the heavens (the vaulted upper part) and the earth (the flat part below). The turtle appears in various art forms of the Nguyễn period, but its image is rarely seen on the porcelain of this period. In the collection of Thomas Ulbrich, there is a tea-saucer marked 御醫正記 (Made as commissioned by the Royal Doctor) in the form of zhuanshu script, with a painting depicting a fairy turtle offering the Luoshu (雒書: rolled letter) in a bookcase to King Wenwang with a poem in Han script.

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