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Lot Essay
The choice of motifs on this bowl is in keeping with Emperor Jiajing's keen interest in Daoism and the attainment of immortality. The botanical motifs of the lingzhi fungus symbolise immortality and allude to longevity.
This bowl is rare, only a few other examples in museums and private collections are known. One in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Enamelled Ware of The Ming Dynasty II, Hong Kong, 1966, pl. 7; one in the Percival David Foundation, now in British Museum is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections Kodansha Series, vol. 6, Japan, 1982, pl. 42; one in the Tokyo National Museum, ibid., pl. 74; and another one in the Baur Collection, Geneva, illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. II, Geneva, 1969, pl. A166.
This bowl is rare, only a few other examples in museums and private collections are known. One in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Enamelled Ware of The Ming Dynasty II, Hong Kong, 1966, pl. 7; one in the Percival David Foundation, now in British Museum is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World's Great Collections Kodansha Series, vol. 6, Japan, 1982, pl. 42; one in the Tokyo National Museum, ibid., pl. 74; and another one in the Baur Collection, Geneva, illustrated in John Ayers, The Baur Collection, vol. II, Geneva, 1969, pl. A166.