A conical blue and white bowl with outlined rim
Six character mark Kangxi and period
The exterior with a scene from 'Lan Ting Xu' in which many figures are enjoying a game of qushuiliushang. The interior of the rim with eight Buddhist symbols (bajixiang) separated by styled vines between double lines.
diam. 23.8 cm
Provenance:
Property of the family of the owner since 1937.
NBI:
The game qushuiliushang (literally translated: drinking cup in the curved stream of water), is an old Chinese game in which one fills cups with a drink, placing these in a stream of water, and when the cup passes by again one has to drink the contents of the cup. Later on the game evolved into a more cultural event in which not only drinks were consumed but also a poem had to be written before the cup returned. A famous depiction of this drinking game can be seen on the excavated palace grounds in Bian, the capital of the Northern Song dynasty (modern Kaifeng).
NBII:
Comparable bowls with this very rare decoration and model do not seem to be documented.