Blue and white bowl with inscription, Ming dynasty, Longqing mark and period, AD 1567–1572. Porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue decoration, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. Sir Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, PDF 622 © Trustees of the British Museum

Porcelain bowl with straight sides slightly flared at the rim. There is a roundel with a woman and child on a terrace in underglaze blue in the centre of the interior. There is an inscription on the exterior.

Note: Longqing (AD1567–72) ceramics are particularly rare as the emperor only reigned for six years. Stylistically they relate closely to Jiajing and Wanli imperial wares. The inscription on this bowl is a poem and has been translated: ‘The cuckoo sings through the night unceasingly. Take heed lest the silk worms have not leaves enough. The waning moon sinks through the willows before the house. The pretty girls continue to dance and sing, and have not returned’.