Stem Bowl

With cobalt blue imported from Persia, porcelain in the celebrated blue-and-white style was first produced in China in the fourteenth century during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) and remained fashionable for centuries. In the center of this bowl, a man in profile sits on the ground. In the back­ground are a cliff, a pine tree, and a moon in the sky. The outside of the bowl depicts scholars gathered near a pavilion in a garden, some reading books, some admiring a scroll of calligraphy, and two playing Wei-ch’i (or Go, as it is known in Japan and the West), an ancient board game.

Source: Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.