A magnificent and very rare Qing Dynasty covered basin decorated with coral red glaze and artistically painted scenery of mountain, river, villages, and people; the body is very heavy, thick and well potted; the wall thickens from mouth rim toward the base to form a sturdy lower part; the coral red glaze is close to orange color and is very uniform and fine, without the shine of newly fired porcelains, due to aging; the mouth rim is coated with gold enamel; the outer base is unglazed, revealing a hard and fine clay body and numerous barely visible concentric circular lines; when struck by finger the cover emits a pleasant sound that resonates like the sound from a bronze bell; such sound suggesting that it has a long history so that its molecules migrate to form a large network like that exists in metals; the foot rim is covered by a very fine, unctuous, white (transparent) glaze, reflecting the very high quality of the material and indicating that the coral red glaze is a low fired glaze applied after the glaze and the biscuit body were fired at high temperature; the gold enamel painting is executed using very fine brush to achieve a master art work that is as good as the best paintings on silk and paper by Chinese painting masters throughout its history. Width 10 1/2 in., Height 7 in. Provenance: Dr. Robert I-San Lin’s Collection of Important Chinese Arts, brought to California in 1960s