With widely flared sides rising from the ring foot to a slightly everted rim, the interior molded with three boys holding the stems of some of the flowers amidst which they play, below a line border, covered overall with a glaze of olive-green tone that also covers the base.

Note: The motif of boys playing amidst flowers was popular during the Song dynasty, appearing not only on ceramics but also textiles and other medium. Two Yaozhou bowls of similar date, and shape, depicting boys playing amidst stems of lotus and saggitaria on one, and peony on the other, are illustrated by R. Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 1, London, 1994, p. 238, nos. 427 and 428. Two others, in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, are illustrated by J. Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, London, 1979 ed., pls. 6a and 6b. The flowers on the present bowl are different from those depicted on the aforementioned bowls. 

Bowl with Two Boys among Foliage, Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), 11th–12th century. Stoneware with mold-impressed decoration under celadon glaze (Yaozhou ware). H. 2 3/8 in. (6 cm); Diam. 7 1/8 in. (18.1 cm). Gift of Sadajiro Yamanaka, 1911, 11.8.7 © 2000–2017 The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Although early Yaozhou wares often had elegant light blue glazes, by the mid-tenth century most wares of this type were covered with olive-toned glazes. The reasons for the change remain obscure, though it may have resulted from the switch from wood to coal as the fuel for the kiln.

Christie's. Magnificent Qing Monochrome Porcelains and Earlier Works of Art from the Gordon Collection, 24 March 2011, New York