A CHINESE FAMILLE ROSE 'HAI WU TIAN CHOU' VASE.

Qing Dynasty, 19th Century.

With a pear-shaped body supported on a short cylindrical foot and tapering to a tall slender neck with a garlic-head mouth and thin-lipped rim, the body painted with figures either side of a riverscape beside pine-covered rocks, with two cranes in flight over the water, the bulbous mouth with floral scroll on a turquoise ground, the base and interior turquoise, six character Qianlong mark to the base, 19cm H.

清十九世紀 粉彩繪海屋添籌圖紋蒜頭口瓶，礬紅「大清乾隆年製」篆書款

The depiction of the sea, pavilion, and cranes in flight come form the rebus hai wu tian chou, which expresses a wish for longevity. In fact, the three men depicted here are from Su Shi’s work ‘Dongpo Zhi Lin: San Lao Yu. The story tells of three old men who were competing to decide who was the oldest. The first said that he was older than Pangu, the primordial being who is said to have separated the earth from the sea. The second said that he had been alive since the sea had been turned into fields. The third man then said that he had been alive so long that the pile of peach seeds he had eaten now dwarfed the nearby Kunlun mountains.

Please login or create an account to view/request condition reports