Chinese eggshell porcelain bowl.

[Stan]

Hi Peter, I bought this because I have only seen an eggshell porcelain bowl this size one other time, the quality on the other was a lot higher quality this bowl is printed and hand painted, the thickness is less than .30 cm and the diameter is 25.4 cm wide, most of it is hand painted but at the edges of the outside it looks like sets of four what ever that is supposed to be the decoration, your expertise is needed it looks like it has a little age to the bowl, maybe from the 50's? here are 8 photo's to view, thanks.

[Stan]

Here are the last set of photo's, thanks again.

[peterp]

Hi Stan, I'm afraid I cannot help much with this.
To me it looks as if it were printed, that is, the overall impression is that of a porcelain decoration where the black outlines were printed or transferred unto the porcelain, and then the filling colors hand painted. I would like to point out that the base color is usually more carefully painted where it meets  painted objects.

Is it egg shell porcelain? Most egg shell porcelain seems to be small items, like cups, dishes, etc. as they are too fragile and easily can be broken during manufacturing and handling.
They are translucent. It is possible to see the decoration on the other side clearly, if held against the light. And the rim looks quite sharp, is glazed and there is virtually no unglazed clay visible (check your rim).
Egg shell porcelain is not just any thin porcelain. It has most of the clay body completely shaved off, in a laborious process, so that the remaining body is made up almost only of the glaze.

[Stan]

Yes, I think it is printed at least the decoration near the top under the two red lines they appear to be sets of fours and at the top edge of the bowl is unglazed, you can see the unglazed edge in photo 6, I can see areas in the unglazed area that looks like there is evidence of the unglazed top rim has been grinded down, and yes it is so thine you can see the decoration on either side it is so transparent, I think this bowl is bigger than the one I saw awhile back, your right about the quality though, it is a little rough but the bowl is in very good condition.

[peterp]

I have a small underglaze dish here that is so thin that I probably could break it with the pressure of the thumb when holding it.
See this for a modern one: /www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqjEFx9UY7I