Note: This pattern is found on a number of bowls dating to the Daoguang, Tongzhi and Guangxu periods but examples with Xuantong marks are extremely rare. A Xuantong-marked bowl from the Tsui Museum of Art and Jingguantang Collection was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 27 April 1997, lot 78. A pair of Xuantong-marked bowls of the same pattern was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 October 1995, lot 790. Another example is illustrated by Liu Liang-yu in Ch'ing Official and Popular Wares, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 5, p. 251.

A Guangxu example of the same pattern is illustrated by G. Avitable, From the Dragon's Treasure, London, 1987 p. 59, col. pl. 72.

Born in Ontario, Canada, Mabel Tom resided in Beijing and worked as a nurse in Beijing from the mid-1920s to the 1930s and lived on the estate of Prince Pu Lung, reputedly Emperor Puyi's uncle. This bowl was given to her with a number of other decorative items and furniture by Prince Pu Lung in recognition of her medical services and care for the local people. Photographs of her furnishings and a detailed account of her time in Beijing were published in Canadian Homes and Gardens, August - September, 1936.