Dice Bowl, China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Xuande mark and period (1426-1435). Porcelain with mottled blue glaze. Diameter: 25 cm (9 13/16 in.); Overall: 11.6 cm (4 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. Severance A. Millikin 1989.287.

The Chinese connoisseurs use the poetic term "snowflake blue" to describe the mottling effects of white blotches amid tones of blue colored with cobalt oxide. Such aesthetic effects were achieved by blowing the glaze through a bamboo tube onto the ceramic surfaces.