The bowl is decorated on one side with a view of the South Front of Burghley House, en grisaille, the reverse with the arms of Brownlow, 8th Earl of Exeter (1701-1754) and his Countess, Hannah Sophia (1702-1765).
There are two delicately painted sprays of peony and birds in famille-rose enamels on either side of the arms and the rim is decorated in iron red and gilding with a band of spearheads.
The central well of the bowl is painted with an arrangement of objects including a bronze vase containing flowers, a bowl of auspicious fruit and utensils for the scholar’s table.
The rim with a narrow band of honeycomb diaper interrupted by four cartouches enclosing scrolls, or ruyi sceptres, 29.5cm.
