A large imperial jade alms bowl Mark and period of Qianlong

of deep globular hemispherical form, the voluptuous rounded sides left plain save for the four-character mark incised to the flattened base, the semi-translucent stone of greyish-white color with areas of opaque blushes and some vertical veins

Sotheby Parke-Bernet, 15th June 1983, lot 112.

The shape of this bowl is unusually deep and globular, and appears to be based on that of a monk's alms bowl. During the 18th century this shape was translated in various materials, including an imitation 'Jun' porcelain bowl stamped with a Yongzheng mark, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, 1972, vol. III, no. A356; and a jasper alms bowl inscribed with sutras in the Qing court collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Jadeware (III), Hong Kong, 1995, no. 117.  The combination of the simple alms bowl shape and the richness of the material used in the present example, reflects the imperial taste for elegant jade vessels made to show off the superiority of the stone.