1st Jun, 2021 10:00

Chinese Art: 100 Stories

 
  Lot 42
 

A CHINESE FAMILLE ROSE 'ZHANG DAOLING' DISH.

A CHINESE FAMILLE ROSE 'FIVE POISONS' DISH.
Qing Dynasty, six character Daoguang mark and probably of the period.

The interior painted with the Daoist Zhang Daoling riding mid-air on the back of a scorpion, a sword in his right hand with a snake coiled around the blade, sharing the skies with an iron-red bird, below a three-legged toad seated on a rock beneath a pine tree and a small boy standing to the left holding a lingzhi spray, a six character iron-red Daoguang mark to base, 16.5cm diameter.

清約道光 粉彩繪五毒圖紋碟,礬紅「大清道光年製」篆書款

Zhang Daoling and the 'Five Poisons' is an important motif symbolic of combating evil and is associated with the Duanwu festival on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. The five poisons, represented by the snake, centipede, scorpion, lizard and toad, are said to come out of hibernation at this time and their slaughter is a means of conquering the evil they represent. Zhang was a historical figure who lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty. Certain accounts of his life stray into the fanciful. It is stated, for instance, that he discovered the elixir of immortality during a visit to the mountains, of which he only drank half. This resulted in his gaining supernatural powers, and later to pick a fight with the king of the demons resulting in other demons fleeing in fright.

Sold for £1,500

Includes Buyer's Premium


 

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