Tea bowl

The bowl is complete, except for a small chip on the top of the rim and under the inner rim. It is circular in shape; in profile, it has a straight rim and a flared wall, curved at the base; the bottom is flat and rests on an annular foot, the outer base of which is slightly beveled. The foot is flat and free of glaze; the decoration almost completely covers the tea bowl and is divided into four zones: under the inner rim and base, and on the outer wall and foot. It is hand-painted in underglaze blue and overglaze polychrome. It depicts a lakeside landscape. The blue-painted decoration under the inner rim appears to be composed of a narrow braid, traced in blue and trimmed with hollow pearls, which are interrupted by alternating wavy and oval medallions. Short straight and curved branches emerge from the base of the braid. The braid is overpainted in red: a straight line at the top and a wavy line at the base encircle the braid, and it is filled in with parallel lines painted obliquely. It is also adorned with polychrome overglaze highlights: alternating wavy and oval medallions, enhanced with pearls, are painted in green, white, pink, black and yellow enamels. The inner background is adorned with a blue pearl. The pearl is covered by a butterfly, seen from above and with open wings, outlined in black and painted in polychrome green, yellow and pink. The main decoration, on the outer wall and painted in blue, is a lake scene; it is composed of two islets of different sizes, spread out over a lake, whose waves are suggested by horizontal lines painted in blue, with highlights painted in red. The main islet is in the lower part of the scene. Painted in blue, it stretches out below the shoreline. It supports a single-storey pavilion, seen from the front, with door and window, and topped by a Chinese-style roof with three vertical decorative elements. The pavilion is surrounded by two trees, a deciduous one on the right and a willow tree on the left. The pavilion has an exterior staircase and the front lot is enclosed by a fence; the fence, on the left on the lake side, makes two angled hooks toward the interior of the lot in front of the pavilion. Outside the fence, on the lake shore, stands a fisherman, seen in profile, holding a pole above the water. On the lake, above the fisherman, a small boat is seen in profile to the right. Above the boat is a hilly islet painted blue, with a pavilion on top, surrounded by two blue-painted trees, and seemingly topped by a rock. All the elements of the main scene, painted in underglaze blue on the background, are enhanced by touches of transparent red, to which gold highlights have been added, outlining the dominant shapes. They are also adorned with polychrome highlights painted over the glaze. Pearls, imitating flowers, and tufts of grass, outlined in black and painted green, have been added to the lake and islets. Finally, leafy branches and foliage, also outlined in black and painted green with red highlights, have been added to the islets. The outer wall of the foot is adorned with vertical lines painted in red in succession and closed at the top, where the wall meets, by a ring painted in the same way. Finally, the top of the rim is covered with a gold fillet.