A small blue and white porcelain bowl with deep rounded sides on a short foot. The outside is painted with fish leaping above crested waves, alternating with large cloud scrolls, between double lines at the rim and the foot. Inside, a double line circles the rim, and a medallion in the centre shows a further fish among waves. The blue is a soft, slightly greyish tone on a pale grey-white glaze.
The glazed base carries a six-character Chenghua mark, 大明成化年製 (Da Ming Chenghua nian zhi), written in regular script in two columns of three, in underglaze blue within a double circle; the edge of the foot ring has fired to a pale orange. 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 · Chenghua Emperor
