A small blue and white porcelain bowl with deep rounded sides on a short foot. The outside is painted with lobed panels of river and mountain landscapes, with rocky peaks, trees, pavilions, the masts of boats and birds in flight, reserved on a washed blue ground. Narrow upright panels, each with dots and a stroke of blue, divide the landscapes, and a border of linked scallops circles the lower body above the foot. The blue is a bright, clear tone. Inside, a blue band runs round the rim, and a double circle in the centre encloses a leaf mark painted in underglaze blue.
The base is glazed and unmarked inside the foot ring. The bowl has a crack on the base, visible in the photographs as a short three-armed line. It dates from the Qing dynasty, Kangxi period. Our guide to symbol and hall marks covers leaf marks and similar devices.
Learn more: The Qing Dynasty · Kangxi Emperor
