Enamelled porcelain bowl

China, mark and period of Jiaqing, 1796 - 1820

Diameter: 8 inches, 21.5 cm
Height: 3 5/8 inches, 9.2 cm

The seemingly random way in which the enamel roundels have been applied lends the bowl a distinctly un-Chinese air, perhaps tending more toward the Japanese taste. The use of colours and motifs shows great imagination: no two roundels are the same. This type of decoration can be seen on earlier porcelain; a jar with similar clusters of enamelled stylised flowers which is dated to the Yongzheng period is in the Palace Museum, Beijing. It is illustrated in Kangxi - Yongzheng - Qianlong, Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, plate 45, p. 216.