A blue and white porcelain bowl with deep rounded sides rising to a slightly flared rim. The outside is painted with a continuous lotus scroll, the full blooms linked by leafy stems, above a ring of petal panels enclosing cloud scrolls round the foot. Inside, a peony spray with leafy branches fills a double-ring medallion, and the cavetto carries a leafy scroll linking six stylised flowers. The blue is a bright, strong cobalt.
The glazed base carries a six-character Xuande mark, 大明宣德年製 (Da Ming Xuande nian zhi), written in regular script in two columns of three, in underglaze blue within a double circle; the foot ring is unglazed and orange at the edge. A reign mark gives the name of a reign; on its own it does not date a piece. Our guide to Chinese porcelain marks explains how marks are read.
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Learn more: The Ming Dynasty · Xuande Emperor
