With slightly flared sides, the black-lacquered wood bowl applied on the exterior with three repoussé gilt-metal panels decorated with dragons reserved on a beaded ground interspersed with small scrolling dragons, the panels separated by gilt-metal straps that join the upper and lower gilt-metal bands mounted on the rims, wood stand, box.

Provenance: Yamanaka & Co., Paris, c. 1940. 
Sammy Y. Lee & Wangs Co., Ltd., Hong Kong, 1973.

Literature: Lee Yu-kuan, Oriental Lacquer Art, New York/Tokyo, 1972, p. 65, no. 9.

Note: A radiocarbon age analysis of the bowl shows the wood to date to the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and the lacquer to between AD 1055-1222, placing it within the Song dynasty (960-1279). A copy of this report is available upon request.