Bowl with eight scalloped divisions

This type of exquisite bowl has not been seen in archaeological materials excavated from kiln sites in Longquan. Most scalloped bowls lack the highly detailed ornamentation seen here. The use of a frieze bordering the mouth seen on Northern Song ding ware was applied, but only occasionally by longquan potters during the Southern Song through the Yuan dynasty. This style of adding a decorative frieze around the border of the vessel's mouth did not become schematized until the Ming. This bowl and another vessel with the same pattern of ornamentation now in the Palace Museum (Hua 1985: pl. 307) were two unconventional pieces among longquan ware. The sides of the body of this bowl are incised with floral sprays.