Description
This bowl has a flared mouth, deep curving walls, and a short ring foot. The ceramic body is somewhat thick, and the entire vessel is coated in white glaze. On the inner side of the bottom of the bowl, a pattern of branched flowers has been painted in red, pink, and white. The exterior surface of the bowl bears a painting of pavilions encircled by walls, which are themselves surrounded by water. Fine black lines are used to delineate the ripples on the water, and small hillocks and strange rocks of eccentric beauty adorn the banks, interspersed with small tufts of grass and large trees. A line from a poem has been written in the blank space on the exterior surface, stating, "Seas and rivers surround the beautiful pavilion and the fairy tower." The writing is accompanied by three leisure seals in red ink, which respectively state, "Shou Ru (longevity as long as)," "Shan Gao (high mountains)," "Shui Chang (long rivers)." On the underside of the bowl, four blue characters written in standard script, arranged in two columns, and enclosed within two square frames state, "Qian Long Nian Zhi (Made in the Reign of Qianlong)."