Bowl with Lotus Decoration

Chinese blue and white porcelains were some of the most commonly exported pieces to Europe, the Near East, and Southeast Asia. This bowl is an example of exported porcelain in the Philippines. The white porcelain of the bowl is painted with cobalt blue and then covered overall with a clear crackled glaze. The inside and outside are decorated with a variety of alternating aquatic plants including water weeds, eel grass, and lotuses rising from rolling waves. Either side of the rim is painted with geometric patterns framed by double rings. The small bowl has a narrow round foot and wide everted rim. Similar aquatic plant and wildlife motifs appear on blue and white porcelains of assorted form and function during the reign of Chenghua (1465-87).