Tea bowl

The tea bowl is complete; it has a small chip on the rim, followed by a crack. It is circular in shape. In profile, the bowl has a wall that flares out at the top and is topped by a straight rim. The lower part of the wall curves towards the flat bottom. The bowl rests on a small annular foot. The outer rim of the foot is beveled and free of glaze. The decoration covers the outside of the bowl, as well as the inside rim and bottom. The decoration is of two superimposed types: a lake scene with a tree, and an oriental scenic type with a flowering basket, treated in pseudo Famille verte. It is hand-painted in underglaze blue polychrome, then traced and painted in iron red, green, black and overglaze gilding. The decoration on the inner wall is traced in red; bordered below the rim by a fillet, it consists of two hanging stylized plant motifs, one of which is trifoliate and bordered by scrolling stems. The center of the bowl is decorated with a stem traced in red, leaves traced in black and painted in green and red with veins, and flowers traced and painted in red with gilding. On the outer wall, the blue-painted decoration is difficult to see in its entirety. It consists of a small blue-painted terrace, supporting a small leafy, flowering stem and a perforated rock, symbolizing the Chinese philosophy of Taoism, behind which rises a tall willow with hanging branches. On the remaining part of the wall, there appears to be a bat, a seabird seen in profile to the left and other motifs, perhaps including a boat. The overglaze decoration on the outer wall is quite different. It is bordered at the top and base by a fillet in red. The main decoration consists of two medallions repeated in alternation, occupying almost the entire surface. One of the medallions features a background of sloping ribbed leaves outlined in red with gilding, surrounding a small oval medallion outlined in red. It is decorated with a lake scene, featuring an island with a tall pagoda and a fisherman in a small boat, all traced and painted in red. The mountains in the background are outlined in black and painted green. The other, larger medallion features a low flower basket with a flared rim and base, resting on feet; it is outlined in red and decorated with vertical red lines. It has an inverted U-shaped vertical handle, trimmed with a ribbon. The flowers are traced and painted red with gilding; the leaves are traced black and painted green. Two insects with black-painted wings, traced in red with gilding, twirl around the flowers.