Conical Bowl with Carved Babies and Floral Motif

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

The conical shape of this bowl is especially suitable for whipping powdered tea, which became popular at court, in monasteries, and in scholarly elite circles during the Southern Song dynasty. The decoration of this bowl was cut with a wooden instrument into the dried clay. This type of white porcelain with a translucent bluish glaze was the direct predecessor of the later blue-and-white porcelains.