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The bowl is superbly potted with with deep rounded sides converging to a pointed base, supported on a narrow, gently tapering foot. The central interior is incised with a stylised flower, encircled by a floral band and interlocking strapwork motifs rendered in the anhua technique, all below a cash coin diaper band around the rim. The exterior is incised with a keyfret border above a band of long lappets encircling the foot. It is covered overall in an opaque white glaze. The present bowl belongs to a group of sweet white-glazed (tianbai) porcelain bowls favoured during the Yongle period. Its subtle combination of incised and anhua decoration on a beautifully potted lianzi shape manifested one of the most classic decorative repertoires in the early Ming dynasty. Anhua, ‘hidden decoration’, was practised almost exclusively at the beginning of the Ming dynasty, from the Hongwu to the Xuande period, and only at Jingdezhen. Although blue and white bowls of this form and decoration were also produced, including one in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Soame Jenyns, Ming Pottery and Porcelain, London, 1988, pl. 28B, the Yongle Emperor is believed to have preferred monochrome white wares, and blue and white counterparts of such bowls only became popular later during the Xuande period. Closely related white-glazed bowls rendered in this decoration include one from the Frederick M. Mayer collection, also formerly in the A.D. Brankston and Eumorfopoulos collections, sold at Christie’s London, 24 June 1974, lot 81; and another sold in Sotheby’s New York, 20 March 2002, lot 181. Compare also a white-glazed bowl decorated in the same techniques, but with the interior and exterior designs reversed, from the Qing court collection and now preserved in the Palace Museum, Beijing, included in the Museum’s exhibition, Imperial Porcelains from the Reigns of Hongwu and Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, 2015, pl. 117. 此碗即為永樂一朝典型之甜白器，碗敞口，深弧壁，圈足。外壁暗刻一周蓮瓣紋，若隱若現。通體施甜白釉，釉質致密細膩，釉色恬靜溫潤，純若凝脂，素猶積雪，甚適於心。整體器型碩大，釉色潔素瑩然，紋飾流暢舒展，佈局清疏自然，工藝精緻細膩，充分彰顯甜白釉之純美，甚愜心賞，當為永樂瓷器之珍品，彌足珍貴。 作為宮廷瓷器的主要品種，白釉瓷器的製作在明代從未間斷過，而以永樂，宣德二朝所制為佳。萬曆十七年王世懋的《窺天外乘》中謂：「永樂，宣德年間，內府燒造，迄今為貴。其時以鬢眼甜白釉為常。」此種潔素瑩然的白釉瓷深得永樂皇帝喜愛，這也是白瓷於永樂一朝風行的主要原因，因其色澤純美動人，更是冠絕後世。 甜白釉瓷器以明代永樂窯生產的最為著名，甜白一詞出現於明代黃一正所著的《事物紺珠》中，有「騌眼甜白」之說。甜白釉瓷是在元代樞府瓷的基礎上，由明代永樂一朝景德鎮官窯創燒而成，此時期景德鎮窯工在瓷胎中提高了高嶺土和氧鋁的含量，從而提高了瓷釉本身的白度和透光度，胎質變得潔白致密，並避免了瓷釉白中泛青的情況，使瓷器更加潔白純淨，幾近無暇，給人以瑩然似玉之觀感。便給人一種「甜」的感受，故名「甜白」。永樂甜白瓷恬靜冷美，超然物外，讓原本單一的白色呈現出無與倫比的色感，體現了中國瓷器「合於天造，厭於人意」的美學境界。沒有青花的藍白相映，沒有彩瓷的繁復繽紛，卻素有「白如凝脂，素猶積雪」之譽，為單色釉中的貴族。 此拍品上的設計為明初經典，其纏枝花紋亦見於同期青花瓷及青瓷上。北京故宮博物院收藏一例，原屬清宮舊藏，其形飾尺寸與此拍品接近，收編於《明代洪武永樂御窯瓷器：景德鎮御窯遺址出土與故宮博物院傳世瓷器對比》，北京，2015，圖版117；台北故宮亦藏有一件甜白四季花卉紋蓮子碗，著錄於1992年日本巡展《中國名陶展：中國陶磁2000年の精華》圖錄，圖版70，頁78；此外尚可參考倫敦大英博物館戴維德基金會舊藏一件白釉刻纏枝花卉紋碗，館藏編號：PDF,A.412。私人收藏方面，香港長青館藏一件大小接近的永樂甜白釉划花卉紋蓮子碗，見《長青館藏明清瓷、玉、角、竹、畫琺瑯》，香港，2014年，圖版1。