The decoration of the bowl is of the tale of Sima Guang, a Chinese statesman of the 11th century who as a boy freed a drowning companion from an enormous jar by breaking it with a stone. This popular Kakiemon design was adopted by the German porcelain factory Meissen as early as 1730, Dutch porcelain enamellers and by the English porcelain factory in Chelsea where it was named 'Hob-in-the-Well', an obscure allusion to a 17th century play by Thomas Doggett adapted in 1711 by Colley Cibber as a farce called 'Flora or Hob in the Well'.

For examples of the Kakiemon style original, the Meissen and Chelsea adaptations see John Ayers, Oliver Impey, J. V. G. Mallet et al., Porcelain for Palaces, The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650-1750 (Oriental Ceramic Society, 1990), nos. 122, 192 and 193