Dish on footring, spreading sides. On the base four spur-marks. Decorated in underglaze blue with a pheasant on a rock near large flowering peonies, a flying pheasant above. The sides and reverse are undecorated. A great deal of Japanese blue-and-white export porcelain has a full decoration with very little white showing. However, the undecorated areas on this dish have become an integral part of the design. This focuses the attention on the bird. The direction of its flight emphasises the circular movement from the plants to the bird and back again. The undecorated sides add depth to, rather than detract from the representation. The use of white in the composition typifies the production from the Kakiemon workshops. They are known for their fine enamelled pieces in Japanese style (see cat. XX{}), but they also manufactured large quantities of blue-and-white, of which this dish is an example.