Bowl with Mughal decoration

Typical of Manasi jade, the material used for this bowl is mottled and has black specks. The piece is an excellent example of jade craft in the early twentieth century, when the artisans of China had reached such a peak in their skill that they could produce paper-thin vessels.
The bowl is decorated with Mughal-style acanthus leaves along the rim. Six groups of Chinese-style lotus blossoms and acanthus leaves in low relief ornament the sides. The bowl sits on a low base, decorated on the bottom with two rows of chrysanthemum petals worked in low relief.

The maker of this vessel had probably never seen a Mughal piece. Chinese artisans, however, knew that so-called Hindustan vessels were thin-walled, finely polished, and decorated with floral motifs. The shape of the bowl is Chinese, but the base bearing the chrysanthemum design is in the Mughal tradition. The acanthus leaves are also Mughal in style, but the addition of the traditional lotus seen in profile gives the bowl a Chinese twist.