QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

Emperor Qianlong was renowned as a devout Buddhist and a number of alms bowls were produced in jade during his reign. Compare to a related dark spinach-green jade bowl of this compressed form and inturned mouth rim, inscribed in gilt on the exterior with the Heart Sutra, illustrated in Jadeware (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 145, no. 117. The alms bowl form found popularity in its use as other vessels such as brush washers, and a comparable example with a dragon carved in relief against similar dense ground of clouds, is illustrated ibid, p. 201, no. 165.