Large bowl

Blue underglaze porcelains like this large bowl were made in China primarily for export to the Southeast Asian market, reflecting the great demand for this style of ceramic decoration in the region. Chinese and European traders brought shiploads of these wares to the islands that today make up the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as to the Malay peninsula and Japan. Produced in kilns all along the southern Chinese coast, the style is often called Swatow Ware, reflecting an earlier European spelling of the Chinese port city Shàntóu 汕头 that exported the wares. Typical decorations included bird and flower motifs, as seen in this example.