QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)

The iconography of this bowl has been chosen with care to provide auspicious messages, such as butterflies, which symbolise happiness, wealth and longevity; and hibiscus blossoms, a symbol of wealth and glory.

Compare two white jade marriage bowls displaying equally deep carving to the interior; the first included in the Oriental Ceramic Society exhibition Jade Throughout the Ages, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1975, illustrated in the Catalogue, no. 425; the second in the British Royal Collections, illustrated by C. Nott, Chinese Jade Throughout the Ages, pl. CXXIX.