Blue and white reticulated dish

[Stan]

Hi Peter, I am not sure what this is called so I am calling it a dish, it is 23.5 cm long and 15.87 cm wide, I have a pair of these, I thought this was Japanese because of the stilt marks on the bottom, although I have never seen such small almost pin hole size stilt marks evenly spaced on the bottom, I was thumbing through your gallery of photo's of Chinese Antique Porcelain and came across this dish, that you call Shuixian, could you tell me what it is and the age, it looks old possibly 18th century, any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[Stan]

Here is the last photo to view, thanks again.

[peterp]

About early 19th century, I think. I have one of this type too. Years ago they were still relatively easy to get. Shuixian is narcissus...this is a narcissus bowl. In winter (early spring) the Chinese put water into it and put the bulbs directly into the water to have flowers.
In our area it is subtropical and it is impossible to plant narcissus outside; thus they import the bulbs from abroad and still follow this old custom each year.

[Stan]

So a Shuixian or Narcissus bowl, thanks Peter, I thought it was Chinese, but I was talking to several Chinese collectors that insisted that they were Japanese, at the time I could not argue because of the stilt mark, thanks again now I have some ammunition for them.

[peterp]

Their knowledge must be limited. This reticulated type is about the most easily recognizable Chinese narcissus bowl I have ever seen.
I do not think in Japan they have this custom and keep them in the house. They could even grow outside in that climate, but I have never seen any.
The reason that it is kept in the house is its connection with spring. It is one of the first flowers growing in early spring, and early spring in the Chinese calendar starts with the lunar new year, which is also called the spring festival.