A GOOD CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN ‘EIGHTEEN SCHOLARS’ BOWL, QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD, 1662 – 1722 清 康熙 青花十八學士奕棋圖纹盌   大明成化年至款 Of shaped ogee form, superbly painted in underglaze-blue with eighteen scholars on a garden terrace, engaged in literati pursuits, playing the qin, looking at paintings, reading, and playing ‘go’, the interior with a bonsai pine tree, diaper rim containing panels of bamboo, peony, prunus and pine branches, the base with a six-character Chenghua mark Height: 9.5cm Diameter: 19.5cm The eighteen scholars were specifically chosen by Emperor Taizong (626 - 649) to promote interests in culture and literature.A similarly decorated blue and white bowl with a Kangxi mark in the Rijksmuseum, illustrated by C.J.A. Jörg, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1997, no.97, p.105, where the author dates this type as circa 1700. Another similar bowl (damaged) was sold at Christie’s Paris, from the collection of Count Thierry de Ganay, 25th of June 2021, lot 383, for 3,750 euros. Condition Report The bowl has a 3mm wide shallow flake to the inside edge of the foot ring, three minute nicks to the rim and light glaze scratches.