|
Shallow bowl with rounded sides and an everted, brown glazed rim. The base with the six-character mark of Jiajing within a double ring. On the inside in the centre a reclining horse in a rocky landscape, the well plain. The reverse with seven horses in a landscape with trees and grasses.
Together with the one on the inside the seven horses on the outside are known as the Eight Horses of Wu Wang (1001-746 B.C.), the 5th ruler of the Zhou dynasty ( 1122-256 B.C.) who was driven through his empire in his eight horse-chariot. Their story is told in a historical book called the Mu tianzu zhuan, An Account of Emperor Mu. The horses were named after the colour of their hair and are often used as an art motif. The brown rim and the Jiajing reign mark suggest that the bowl was made in the Shunzhi reign (1644-1661). The everted rim appeared in the later Shunzhi era and became popular in the early Kangxi (1662-1722) period.
| 
)
