This serving bowl has shallow rounded sides and an everted gilt-edged rim. It is painted with rose pink enamels on a white ground. This example is typical of the most common of Nonyawares - those which have a white background decorated with a phoenix and peony design in enamels and bordered by Buddhist symbols on the rim. It forms part of an extensive dinner service found in Peranakan homes and were produced in many different designs.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.
