Bowl with dragon boats

This piece illustrates the most refined style of the Ming wucai. The design and the color, however, tend to imitate the doucai ("contending" or "joined colors") of the Chenghua period, in which potters used overglaze enamel colors to fill underglaze-blue outlines and then fired the vessels to produce the "contending color" effect. The interior of this piece is painted on the sides with eight floral sprays in blue and green, surrounding a centrally placed dragon in red and yellow. The exterior is touched with blue, red, and green, bordered by a floral band on the lip and includes a boat racing scene taking place on a lake. Two dragon boats and two others, one in the form of a phoenix and peacock, sail through lotus flowers and other aquatic plants.