WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1619)

Of deep U shape, the present bowl is decorated with two five-clawed dragons in pursuit of a flaming pearl among flames and clouds. The spines and claws of the dragons are painted in underglaze-blue and the body in green enamel, with a key fret border at the foot. The interior left white.

It is very unusual to find a Wanli bowl of this shape and colour design. See a similar Wanli bowl painted with dragons in underglaze blue and aubergine enamels, illustrated in the Min Chiu Society Thirtieth Anniversary Exhibition, Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, the Hong Kong Museum of Art, 1990, p.324, no.147; and one housed in the Tokyo National Museum, recorded in Illustrated Catalogues of Tokyo National Museum-Chinese Ceramics, Tokyo, 1965, p.131, no.539.