Bidspirit auction | A Pair of Blue and

A Pair of Blue and White Porcelain Kraak Style Bird and Branch Bowls - A pair of blue and white porcelain deep plates or shallow bowls decorated in the Ming export style. The bowls feature a lobed form with flared rims, constructed from a greyish-white glazed porcelain. The interior center of each vessel is hand-painted with a songbird perched upon a rock surrounded by flowering branches and bamboo. The wide rims are divided into radiating panels containing alternating motifs of sunflowers and stylized auspicious symbols, a layout characteristic of late Ming dynasty kraak wares. The underside of each bowl is decorated with three concentric blue bands and sets of vertical stripes. Each base bears a hand-painted four-character mark in underglaze blue, arranged in two columns, reading Chenghua Nian Zhi. These are apocryphal marks intended as a respectful reference to the 15th-century Chenghua reign, though the potting and decorative style indicate production in the late 19th Century or early 20th Century. The foot rims are unglazed and show minor kiln grit and pitting consistent with traditional firing methods.