Ashmolean Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Vases of this form and this type of design are copying contemporary porcelains from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, where the designs were painted in cobalt-blue. Blue-and-white porcelain had just started to become popular in China and the Longquan kilns aimed at copying the much richer ornamentation of this rival manufactory.

The vase has a broad pear-shaped body, waisted neck, widely flaring, slightly down-curved rim, and a thick splayed foot. The central area is incised with two lotus bouquets, with lotus blooms arranged in a lively composition together with leaves, pods and stems of arrow-head, their stalks tied with a ribbon and extending around the vase to form a continuous band. The design is bordered above by a pendant ruyi collar and below by petal panels enclosing foliate motifs, with classic scroll and key-fret borders and stiff leaves at the neck, and another key-fret border around the foot. The light yellowish-green glaze evenly covers the piece, except for the footring, which shows an off-white body with a brown-burnt edge.