16.8 cm. （6 5⁄8 in.） diam.

The deep bowl with gently rounded sides ， decorated in underglaze-blue with a continuous scene of mandarin ducks swimming and in flight above a lotus pond ， all below a band of dragons chasing ‘flaming pearls’ surrounding the rim ， the interior with a central roundel with a further scene of ducks among lotus below a lança-character border below the rim.

Bowls of this design are directly inspired by Ming dynasty Chenghua doucai decorated prototypes. A Chenghua period example in National Palace Museum ， Taipei ， is illustrated in Ming Chenghua ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of Chenghua porcelain] ， Taipei ， 1976 ， cat. no. 85. Although most bowls of this type are decorated in the doucai technique ， it appears that a small number of bowls of this type were also produced in underglaze blue. An example from the collection of the National Palace Museum ， Taipei was included in the Museum’s exhibition Ming Chenghua ciqi tezhan [Special exhibition of Chenghua porcelain] ， Taipei ， 1976 ， cat. no. 87； and another included in the exhibition The Wonders of the Potter’s Palette ， Hong Kong Museum of Art ， Hong Kong ， 1984 ， cat. no. 97. Compare with a Daoguang mark and period doucai example of this design sold at Sotheby’s London ， 11 May 2011 ， lot 225.

Price estimate:
HKD: 40,000 - 60,000
USD: 5,200 - 7,800

Auction Result:
HKD: 247,800