This bowl with flaring mouthrim has a greyish underglaze cobalt blue decoration with a sweet pea blossom design. A key fret border decorates the inner rim of the bowl. Blue and white porcelain is relatively common in the Peranakan community. These wares were known as 'Kitchen Ch'ing', a term that was coined in the 1980s to refer to the range of blue-and white utility wares made during the 19th and 20th centuries in China and exported in large quantities to Southeast Asia. However, they were not particularly sought after by collectors of Peranakan porcelain, who do not view them as unique to the Peranakan community. This type of porcelain was generally used by the Peranakan communities of Singapore and Malacca for ancestral worship and for daily use. It is quite difficult today to find a complete set in perfect condition as most were used and divided up when ancestral houses were dismantled.
