Antique Chinese Bulb Pot , 18th century. Extremely rare example.

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Antique Chinese Bulb Pot , 18th century. Extremely rare example.:
$385.44

Bought in Shanghai for Vaughn Banting ,a famous Bowl collector from Georgia, USA.
Wonderfully vibrant colours on this hand-painted porcelain antique bulb tray from Japan. Three figures are shown standing on large leaves as they travel across water. Reverse shows figures amid craggy rocks. Interesting geometric banding around rim and base. This footed bulb dish (or bulb pot) with no drain was designed as a dish for forcing bulbs.Circa 1750-1800Width: 9\" (23cm)Depth: 5.5\" (14cm)Height: 3.5\" (9cm)About Bulb Pots: bulbs were planted in late winter and two months later after being kept in the dark they were brought out after they had reached a good length. Within 10 days the bulbs flower. Interestingly with Bulb pots, these will grow at different times and you can see new shoots coming up through the planting. The beauty of the flowers was well matched with the antique Chinese bulb pots from the early 14th to 20th century
Bulb pot/bulb bowl including Orchid Pots collecting -While not actually Suibans, some bulb pots can indeed be used as Suibans for Suiseki (trays for ornamental landscape or figurative stones)
During the Chinese Song and Yuan Dynasties and later during the Qing Dynasty bulb bowls (or bulb pots) were used as containers for flower bulbs, such as narcissus. Narcissus blooms were particularly popular around the time of the Lunar New Year (late January - February) when the Chinese celebrate the coming of spring. They look a lot like bonsai or Penjing pots in their architecture due to their shared characteristic of usually having feet but the similarity between the two types of vessels stops there, as bulb pots do not contain drainage holes.
Bulbs were planted in these pots and then forced into bloom using only a medium of gravel and water. The bulbs sat on top of the gravel and water was added to a level just below them assuring the bulbs did not rot but encouraging root formation instead.Bulb pots although sharing similar architecture to bonsai pots (as stated above) are usually made of porcelain often featuring Polychrome enameled decorations of one sort or another. The motifs encountered on these pots often feature Chinese figures and reflect the type of day to day activities of the period. Of course, these attributes only increase the delight provided the collector of bulb pots.Smaller or double walled pots are for Orchids and small pots with legs can be used for either.