An especially rare and very fine Chinese porcelain covered bowl, decorated in underglaze blue with landscape scenes, and most unusually, with biscuit figures in pairs around the exterior of the vessel, each grouping representing two of the eight Daoist Immortals with their attributes, the cover painted with peasants in a landscape, surmounted by a foo lion finial. This is really a remarkable tour-de-force of the potter’s art and a rare survivor-a similar example in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA. Measuring 7″across x 7″ high, the piece is in rather good condition given its age and fragility; restoration to the biscuit figures as would be expected, and the foo lion finial a masterfully sculpted replacement of the original, the bowl and cover themselves in very good order. Circa 1625-1640.