Bowl

DATE:: c. 1700–1720
MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE:: Porcelain, enamel
CLASSIFICATION:: Containers
DIMENSIONS:: Wooden Stand: 2 1/8 × 8 1/2 × 8 1/2 in. (5.4 × 21.59 × 21.59 cm)
DEPARTMENT:: Decorative Arts and Design
LOCATION:: Wendy and Emery Reves Collection - Porcelain , Level 3
CREDIT LINE:: Dallas Museum of Art, The Wendy and Emery Reves Collection
OBJECT NUMBER:: 1985.R.956.A-B

General Description

Similar to a blue and white Kraak ware bowl in the Reves Collection (see 1985.R.953), this bowl is high-walled and has a lightly scalloped rim. The body is further animated by molded panels that are divided into separate reserves by the enameling on the exterior. Featured on the outside are peonies representing love, beauty, and spring; a dragon symbolizing rebirth and the emperor; and butterflies embodying the concepts of summer, joy, and conjugal happiness. The interior is painted with peony and cherry trees filled with birds.

On the bottom, an underglaze blue seal mark enclosed in a double-lined square apparently reads "made to order."

Adapted from

Dallas Museum of Art, Decorative Arts Highlights from the Wendy and Emery Reves Collection (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art, 1995), 96.