This is an exceptional Imperial blue-and-white bowl from the Jiaqing Period (1796-1820). The large bowl has a rounded side sitting on a small foot ring. The exterior is superbly painted with ten frolicking children at play in a beautiful garden. The painting was executed with painterly elegance in vivid underglaze cobalt blue of various shades similar to those of a good ink wash painting. The small foot is lined with a band o classic key-frets. The base is inscribed with a Jiaqing Imperial seal mark in blue. The interior is undecorated. The glaze is of slightly tinted white over a pure white porcelain body. This beautiful bowl is in excellent condition with only minor glaze wear to the mouth rim.
Size: mouth diameter: 21.1cm; height: 9.7cm