A large blue and white 'Eight Buddhist Emblems' bowl, Seal mark and period of Qianlong

Brilliantly painted, the present bowl skillfylly simulates the distinctive 'heaped and piled' effect characteristic of Ming dynasty blue and white wares through the deliberate application of varying shades of cobalt. Echoing the Qianlong Emperor's penchant for classicism and innovation, the bowl is elegantly decorated with bajixiang and lotus, revisiting and reinterpreting early Ming designs like the Xuande bowl illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (I), vol. 34, Hong Kong, 2000, pl. 147.

A similar bowl is illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Blue and White Ware of the Ch'ing Dynasty, vol. II, Hong Kong, 1968, pls 25a-e. See one sold at Christie's New York, 4th June 1987, lot 281, and again in these rooms, 23rd September 2004, lot 309. Further examples have sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 26th November 1980, lot 304, and 20th November 1985, lot 98. See also one sold at Christie's New York, 22nd March 2019, lot 1826, and another sold in these rooms, 17th March 2021, lot 150.