清乾隆

This type of bowl is known as a 'marriage' bowl, and such bowls, with their carefully chosen auspicious decoration, were popular during the Qing dynasty. However, the modelling of such double-handled large bowls in the form of a large lotus flower, such as the current lot, is rare. Such carving is usually depicted on smaller bowls and covers. Compare for example one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, decorated on each petal with figures of Buddha interspersed with sutra inscriptions, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Jadeware, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 141, no. 115. See also another 'lotus' bowl and cover, with similar lotus petals to the exterior, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu fenlei quanji, Zhongguo yuqi quanji, Hebei meishu chubanshe, Hebei, 1991, p. 84, no. 129.

The exquisite rendering of the lotus flower bowl being offered here, which is so finely detailed with the 'Eight Buddhist Emblems', bajixiang, makes this an exceptional example of its type.