Koi Fish Bowl

A koi fish bowl in the traditional Chinese style makes a substantial decorative piece, whether used for planting or simply placed where its shape and painted surface can be appreciated. At Shimu, our Blue and White Porcelain collection includes fish bowls based on old Chinese forms, alongside smaller handmade porcelain bowls and larger decorative fish pots.

These pieces draw on ceramics once used in China to hold prized pet fish. Today, their broad proportions and strong blue-and-white decoration make them particularly well suited to indoor plants and larger rooms. Shimu offers several sizes and patterns, from open bowls to imposing lidded pots.

Chinese Fish Bowls and Their Traditional Use

Large Chinese fish bowls have a history that reaches well beyond their present use as planters. Shimu’s Blue and White Fish Bowl Planter is a reproduction of the type of ceramic bowl used to house prized pet fish in seventeenth-century China. Its broad, open form provided a very different setting from the glass aquariums familiar today.

For a modern interior, that same form works particularly well as a large Chinese fish bowl planter. The generous opening gives room for substantial planting, while the painted exterior remains visible below the foliage. The result is a practical decorative object with a clear connection to Chinese ceramic traditions.

Blue and White Fish Bowls in Chinese Porcelain

Blue and white is one of the most familiar treatments for Chinese ceramics. Shimu’s large fish bowl uses this classic palette, with a large fish painted at the centre, plants to either side and a scrolling wave pattern running around the upper edge.

The restrained colour scheme makes a Chinese porcelain fish bowl straightforward to place. Blue and white sits comfortably beside natural elm, dark lacquer and painted furniture, while also working in rooms with simpler contemporary furnishings.

A large bowl needs enough space around it to appreciate its width and decoration. Placed beside a cabinet, at the end of a console or in an open corner, it can introduce pattern without requiring changes elsewhere in the room.

Chinese Fish Bowl Planters for Indoor Plants

The scale of a traditional fish bowl makes it particularly suitable for larger indoor plants. Shimu’s Blue and White Fish Bowl Planter measures 45cm across and 36cm high, giving it considerably more presence than a standard plant pot.

When choosing a plant, consider the finished height as well as the size of the bowl. A broad-leaved plant or small indoor tree can work well in a larger space, while a more compact plant allows more of the painted porcelain to remain visible.

Position is equally important. A Chinese fish bowl planter can work beside a Chinese console table, in a hallway or within a larger living room. Check the weight of the bowl, compost and plant before deciding where it will remain.

Jingdezhen Porcelain Fish Bowls

Some of Shimu’s smaller fish bowls are handmade in Jingdezhen, a Chinese centre of porcelain production with centuries of experience behind its workshops.

The Hutian Blue and White Bowls are sold as a pair and decorated with bamboo and herons. They are made using traditional regional methods, with cobalt pigment beneath a clear glaze producing the familiar blue-and-white contrast. Shimu offers related medium bowls decorated with birds, cranes and elephants.

Their smaller scale gives them a different role from the largest floor-standing planters. They can be used for modest indoor planting or displayed as decorative bowls on a broad cabinet or table.

Shimu also carries larger porcelain fish pots with more elaborate forms. The Nanhe Blue and White Lion Fish Pot is handmade in Jingdezhen on a traditional potter’s wheel and decorated using cobalt pigment beneath a clear glaze.

Its decoration includes opposing temple lions, traditionally associated with protection in Chinese culture. Four lion-head handles sit around the body, while a further lion forms the finial on the lid. The result is closer to a large decorative jar than an open planter.

Other Chinese porcelain pieces use dragons, fish, birds and floral subjects. This gives you a choice between the simpler open fish-bowl shape and a taller, more architectural ceramic form.

Styling a Chinese Porcelain Fish Bowl

A fish bowl does not need a room filled with Chinese furniture around it. One substantial ceramic piece can sit comfortably beside a plain sofa, timber cabinet or painted sideboard. Where the room already contains Chinese furniture, matching periods or patterns too closely is unnecessary. Concentrate instead on scale, colour and the amount of decoration in the surrounding area. A large blue and white planter usually benefits from a little clear space around it.

Shimu has specialised in Chinese furniture since 2003, with collections covering traditionally made furniture, restored antiques and oriental home accessories. Our ceramics include blue and white porcelain, handmade Jingdezhen pieces and large decorative fish bowls suited to contemporary homes. Browse Shimu online or visit our West Yorkshire showroom to see current pieces in person.

Black Lacquer Furniture | Blue and White Ginger Jar | Chinese Artwork | Chinese Tableware | Buddha Head | Green Chinese Ginger Jar | Chinese Blue Lamp | Oriental Rugs | Oriental Cabinet | Chinese Sideboards | Mango Furniture | Chinese Furniture | Chinese Buddha | Blue Chinese Rug | Large Buddha Statue | Chinese Temple | Dragon Necklace | Second Hand Chinese Furniture | Chinese Coffee Tables | Chinese Medicine Cabinet | Chinese Armoire | Chinese Furniture Birmingham | Chinese Furniture Glasgow | Chinoiserie | Chinese Lanterns | Chinese Figurines | Calligraphy Brushes | Chinese Lamp Shades | Modern Chinese Interior Design | Old Antique Wooden Boxes | Chinese Console Tables