Porcelain bowl with thick walls, 1426-1435, Ming dynasty, Xuande reign. Porcelain with cobalt under colorless glaze. H: 12.6 W: 26.6 cm. Jingdezhen, China. Purchase F1945.35. Freer/Sackler © 2014 Smithsonian Institution

This imperial bowl bears a Xuande reign mark in the interior. On the exterior it is decorated with two energetic, outstretched dragons gamboling among clouds. The base of the bowl is unglazed.

Deep bowls with thick walls like the Freer's bowl are often called "dice bowls." The name refers to their use in games played by tossing dice into them. It is unclear when the tradition to use bowls in dice games began, but there is pictorial evidence from the Liao Dynasty of this tradition. A Liao mural painting on the south wall of the rear chamber of Zhang Shiqing's tomb in Xuanhua, Hebei Province, illustrates a servant holding a thickly potted bowl filled with dice. While this painting provides evidence that bowls were used in dice games, it does not necessarily prove that Ming dynasty bowls of this shape had an identical purpose. Ming records of this practice have not yet come to light; therefore, scholars are continuing research on the use of the Ming bowls.