QING DYNASTY (1644-1911)

The mainstay of the distinctive stonewares produced at Yixing was a range of functional objects, many of them simple, relatively plain containers for potted plants, liquids and solids and, most famously, teapots from the Ming dynasty onwards. Although modeled in the shape of an alms bowl, the current example is quite large and has an unusually wide mouth, suggesting that it may have been intended as an incense burner.

For an Yixing alms bowl carved with the Heart Sutra and dated to the Kangxi period, see Gems of Beijing Cultural Relics: Works of Decorative Arts I, p. 126, no. 107.