This serving bowl has high rounded sides, an everted gilt-edged rim and a high straight footring. The exterior is decorated on a white ground and painted with colourful enamels. Roundels containing the double happiness characters 'shuang xi' alternate with peony sprays. In Straits Chinese porcelain, rice was eaten off plates and not from bowls, like the Chinese practice of eating. This is a 'mangkok laok' or a food bowl used to serve up dishes. The collective Baba Malay term for dining ware is 'pinggan mangkok', which literally means 'plates and bowls'. The dinner service can also include cups, saucers, spoons and spoon rests. Wealthy Peranakan families often commissioned the highest quality porcelain wares for special occasions. These wares would be decorated in auspicious colours and motifs like the phoenix and peony.
