Bowl with six-foliate rim, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Reign of the Xuande emperor (1426-1435)
Bowl with six-foliate rim, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Reign of the Xuande emperor (1426-1435), China, Jiangxi province. Porcelain with underglaze-blue decoration, qinghua ware. H. 3 1/8 in x Diam. 8 7/8 in, H. 8 cm x Diam. 22.6 cm. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P2101. © 2016 Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture
The interior of this bowl has a floral band on the rim, and six divisions decorated alternately with lotus and peony blossoms, which set off the central peach branch. The outside decoration conveys the message of the "hundred fruits"—including grape, plum, cherry, pomegranate, peach, and others—which symbolize prosperity. Both the shape and design became traditional types for the palace and were mass-produced by the imperial factory of the Qing dynasty. The eighteenth-century Kangxi-Yongzheng period reproductions are executed well enough to confuse us as to their proper date. Quite a number of collections introduce this type as representative of Xuande qinghua (National Palace Mus. 1982: pl. 20; Shoudu Mus.: pl. 97).



