A small blue and white porcelain bowl with deep rounded sides on a short foot. The outside is painted with a continuous lotus scroll, the open blossoms linked by leafy, curling stems between blue lines at the rim and the foot. Inside, a blue line circles the rim, and a medallion in the centre shows a fish swimming among water plants and waves. The blue is a soft cobalt, slightly blurred in places: the bowl sat too close to the fire in the kiln, which also gave the outside a more yellowish tone.
The glazed base carries a six-character Jiajing mark, 大明嘉靖年製 (Da Ming Jiajing nian zhi), written in regular script in two columns of three, in underglaze blue within a double circle, inside an unglazed foot ring. A reign mark gives the name of a reign; on its own it does not date a piece. Our guide to Ming reign marks explains how they are read.
Learn more: The Ming Dynasty · Jiajing Emperor
