A hemispherical bowl decorated with formal lotus and bats surrounding a white ‘shou’, good luck character. The body of the bowl is copper; the rims and cloisons appear to be gilded bronze. One or two cloisons exhibit the ‘split wire’ characteristic. The blue enamel is quite pale and opaque; the bats are depicted using a semi translucent brown and a deep cobalt blue that appears almost black. Other colours are a white enamel, deep terracotta red, a dark blue/green and pale yellow. These colours are all consistent with a late 16th manufacture, the period probably Wanli.

Just a tad over 7.1/4 inches (18.6 cm) diameter. Late 16th century cloisonné enamels are quite robustly made and this example is no exception. The enamels are thick and chunky with many pinholes on the surface. The inside of the bowl has had a knock that has removed some enamel both at the point of impact and also on at the corresponding area on the outside. Given that the body is copper and the wires are soldered a good repair could be made utilising the original wires. Please study the photographs.