Of rounded flaring sides rising from the slightly inverted foot ring, the exterior vividly painted in underglaze blue and enamelled in red, green, yellow and aubergine, with four alternating five-clawed dragons and phoenixes pursuing the flaming pearl amidst foliate floral scrolls, below the rim with the Eight Buddhist Emblems, the interior decorated with a central medallion enclosing a five-clawed dragon pursuing the flaming pearl amidst fire scrolls. 

Provenance: a European private collection.

Note: Compare similarly decorated wucai bowls, Kangxi marks and of the period, of sizes varying from 10.4cm - 16.4cm diam., illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Porcelains in Polychrome and Contrasting Colours, Hong Kong, 1999, nos.135-136; and another illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty: The Official Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Zhongguo qingdai guanyao ciqi, Shanghai, 2003, p.86. The popularity of this design is evident from the continous production of similarly decorated bowls during the Qianlong and up to the Daoguang reign.

A similar but smaller bowl was sold at Bonhams London on 10 November 2011, lot 90.

Bonhams. FINE CHINESE ART, 17 May 2018, 10:30 BST, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET