Doucai porcelain container for ‘Lotus’ brushes, with Longqing marking

Porcelain vessel with ‘Doucai’ decoration. It has a flat circular base and a rounded body that is slightly wider at the mouth, crowned by a rounded rim. It is decorated with floral decoration, with the rims outlined in underglaze blue and finely coloured with yellow- and green-tinted enamels. The body is decorated with a pattern of large lotuses in blossom linked by spiralling leaf scrolls. The rim is decorated with a thin border of ruyis and small leaves. These two bands are divided by double blue lines that frame the composition.  

On the rim, and inscribed in a rectangular cartouche, is a six-character mark in underglaze blue ‘大明隆庆年造’.

Height: 8.5 cm; Mouth diameter: 15 cm; Base diameter: 9.7 cm