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Vase, Zun-shaped, the recessed base unglazed. Around the neck, secondarily drilled through the glaze, twenty partly deteriorated Chinese characters. The first four of these constitute the four-character mark of Wanli. Around the sides, reserved against fish-scale diapers, four quatre-foil medallions with sprays and birds. Around the base of the neck matching medallions, each with a character, below the rim pheasants and insects among flora. Around the foot, above a leaf and scroll border, a spiral border, and a wave border, two deer in a landscape.
The vase is inspired on ancient bronze wine vessels. It has a bluish glaze and is painted in various tones of cobalt blue. It shows the orderly but crowded decoration typical of the Wanli style. The four large characters in the medallions constitute the recommendation mark Fu Gui Jia Qi meaning 'Fine vessel for the rich and honourable'. The drilled characters could point at Islamic ownership before the vase entered the museum collection.
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