The Palace Museum:Blue-and-White Bowl with Children at Play and Guangxu Reign Mark

The exterior of this bowl is painted with a scene of children playing in a garden. The children are divided into two groups by a stone parapet. One group comprises little boys wearing only apron-like undershirts (dudou, lit. “belly cover”) playing games around a square table. The other group of boys is depicted in light garments playing in a garden. The base is inscribed in underglaze blue with the six-character reign mark “Made in the Guangxu reign of the Great Qing dynasty” (Daqing Guangxu nian zhi) in regular script. This bowl was produced for Empress Dowager Cixi’s seventieth birthday celebration.

Website version edited by Zhuang Ying and Adam J. Ensign