KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

Details

A FAMILLE VERTE MOLDED SQUARE TAPERING VASE
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
Each facet molded in high relief with an immortal and a boy attendant standing in a landscape setting, the immortals include the Three Star Gods, Shou Xing holding his staff, Lu Xing holding a lotus stem, and Fu Xing, as well as Zhang Xian, the patron of childbearing women, shown holding a bow having shot an arrow at the 'Heavenly dog' seen capering atop vaporous clouds above, with lengthy inscriptions on two sides, and with vignettes of molded 'antiques' on the neck
18 in. (45.8 cm.) high

Provenance

Collection of George R. Davies, Catalogue no. 188.
Collection of Edgar Gorer.
Collection of Frederick J. and Antoinette H. Van Slyke; Sotheby's, New York, 31 May 1989, lot 106.

Lot Essay

Compare the similar vase illustrated in The Taft Museum: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 1995, pp. 648-9, no. 1931.92. The entry discusses the combination of the Daoist immortals, the Three Star Gods, and Zhang Xian, as well as the objects and attributes held not only by them, but also by their attendants. The combination of these elements "forms a series of complex rebuses that express the wish for the birth of a male heir who will increase the family's prestige and wealth by entering the Chinese civil service".

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