Compare with the mark, Guzi hao pi liu nian hua yang, 'Gu made the pi in the sixth year as a sample', written on the base of a dish in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated by Wang Qing-zheng et. al., Underglaze Blue and Red, Shanghai, 1987, no. 189. The word pi means unburnt tile, which suggests that this in reference to the making of the body of the dish. This very rare special designation of the Qianlong period, not only records the year in which an item was made but gives the name of the craftsman, ibid, p. 201; the Shanghai dish for instance refers to the artisan by the name of 'Gu'. Another dish with a similar mark dated to the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong in the Palace Museum, Beijing, made by 'He', is mentioned cf., loc. cit.; whilst the present bowl is made by 'Kang'.