Bowl with rocky landscape

Artistically this bowl successfully simulated late Ming painting techniques for paintings and ceramic blue-and-white. The subject matter, depicting a fishing scene set in a perspective landscape along a lake with mountains, was taken from traditional elements of paintings. The poetic feeling was primarily created through the variety of line work in the fore and middle grounds and the gradations of washes in the far ground. The work was highly treasured by the owner because it has a copper-bound lip, an old fashion begun with Song imperial productions. These wares became increasingly popular, and private commissions were frequently ordered for such porcelains with special designs, such as the lyric inscription on this bowl which reads zhongyou meiyu yazhi (meaning "refinery produced for the zongyou meiyu studio" but which literally translates as "the faith is embraced in beautiful jade").