Bowl with abstract motifs

The design of the interior of this bowl suggests an expanding, blossoming force. At the center is a single red flower-like element. This is surrounded by four similar "flowers" in tan, which alternate with red leaf-like elements. In the wide outer band the flowers appear again, now larger and red. They alternate with even larger "leaves" in red with broad brown borders.

This bowl was made in more or less the same period and region as the famous white bowls with dark brown calligraphy, such as
the one nearby in this case. The contrast between this bowl's colorful abstracted designs covering the whole surface and the calligraphic
bowl, with its restrained, refined decoration, is striking. Perhaps the two styles came from different localities or somewhat different periods. Perhaps they differed in cost, and were intended for different clienteles.