Elegantly painted with a rhythmic floral scroll, the design of this bowl represents a development of Chenghua (1465-87) prototypes. The Wanli Emperor (r. 1573-1620) is known to have been passionately fond of Chenghua doucai wares, thus their value and appreciation grew under his reign. For a possible inspiration of this design, see a zhadou decorated with similar flowers with long stamens painted in underglaze blue, in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., included in the Museum’s exhibition Ming Porcelain in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1953, cat. no. 23.

Bowls of this type are very rare; a closely related example, from the collections of H.M. Knight and T.Y. Chao, included in the Exhibition of Ming and Ch’ing Porcelain from the Collection of the T.Y. Chao Family Foundation, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1978, cat. no. 40, was sold three times in our London rooms, 1970, 1976, and most recently, 13th November 2002, lot 113. Another from the Pilkington Collection was sold in these rooms, 5th April 2016, lot 48. A similar design is also found on a blue-and-white dish with a Wanli mark and of the period, from the Raymond F.A. Riesco collection, illustrated in Edgar E. Bluett, The Riesco Collection of Old Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1951, pl. 52; and on an unmarked zhadou painted in doucai enamels, sold at Christie’s London, 10t⛄h Decembꦏer 1990, lot 151, attributed to the Zhengde reign (1506-21).

This design later appeared on porcelains of the Yongzheng period, as seen on a bowl sold in our London rooms, 12th December 1989, lot 467, and again at Christie’s Hong Kong, 23rd March 1993, lot 810; and a dish with an apocryphal Chenghua mark, illustrated in A.D. Brankston, Early Ming Wares of Chingtechen, Beijing, 1938, pl. 45 (top right).

盌外壁飾纏枝花卉紋，清麗雅緻ꦡ，應宗奉成化鬪彩之原形。萬曆帝珍慕成化鬪彩瓷器，因此被視為珍貴。見一渣斗，紋飾甚為相似，應為靈感之源，藏華盛頓弗爾美術館，曾展於《Ming💙 Porcelain in the Freer Gallery of Art》，華盛頓，1953年，編號23。

萬曆鬪彩器物如鳳毛麟角，一相似例為亨利奈特及趙從衍舊藏，曾展於《明清景德鎮瓷器 - 趙氏基金ꦉ收藏》，香港藝術館，1978年，編號40，前後三次於倫敦蘇富比拍賣，最近一次2002年11月13日，編號113。另見一例為琵金頓收藏，售於香港蘇富比2016年4月5日，編號48。