IN PORCELLANA BIANCA E BLU, CINA, MARCHIO QIANLONG BING WU A QUATTRO CARATTERI IN BLU SOTTOSMALTO ALL'INTERNO DI UN DOPPIO CERCHIO, CORRISPONDENTE AL 1786
With steeply rounded sides rising to an everted rim, painted around the body in tones of deep cobalt blue with four ruyi-head bordered roundels enclosing four Sanskrit characters reading Shangao-shuichng ( high as the mountain and long as the river), interspersed amongst lotus sprays and beribboned Bajixiang (Eight Buddhist Emblems), all between a classic scroll between a ruyi band above and a lappet band below, with a further ruyi band on the interior rim: the interior with a centred shou character. The base with a four-character mark in underglaze blue: Bing Wu Qianlong. In very good conditions, very minute surface scratch and very minor firing imperfections especially visible to the interior.

16,9 cm diam., 7,8 cm high
A RARE AND BEAUTIFUL BLUE AND WHITE BUDDHIST EMBLEM BOWL, CHINA, QIANLONG BING WU FOUR-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE, CORRESPONDING TO 1786, AND OF THE PERIOD
Provenance: from the important mansion in Rome of a Lombard noble lady

Note: A similar one sold at Christie's in New York on 21 Mar 2002, lot 210.
The most common bowl of this type are normally mark with the Qianlong seal and have a little different decoration on inside, and a shallow dish of the same pattern, also bearing a four-character Qianlong bing wu mark, illustrated by Sir Harry Garner, Oriental Blue and White, London, 1954, pl. 79b.