A QIANJIANG-ENAMELED HU-FORM VASE

SIGNED CHENG MEN AND CHENG KAI, DATED TO THE TENTH DAY OF THE ELEVENTH MONTH OF YIYOU YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1885, AND OF THE PERIOD

Details

A QIANJIANG-ENAMELED HU-FORM VASE
SIGNED CHENG MEN AND CHENG KAI, DATED TO THE TENTH DAY OF THE ELEVENTH MONTH OF YIYOU YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1885, AND OF THE PERIOD
The pear-shaped body is delicately decorated on one side with a pair of birds perched in a blossoming branch next to a delicately painted iris of soft lavender hue. To the lower left of the composition is a two-column inscription that may be translated, 'for the appreciation of Lanfang zhuren (master of the orchid boat), painted from life by Lidaoren.' The inscription is followed by an artist's seal reading Xueli. The other side of the vase is painted with a scene of two farmers fishing beside a rice paddy below an inscription incorporating the title of the scene, the date, the intended recipient of the vase, Henfang laobuo, or the elder man Henfang, and the signature of Cheng Chongkai, followed by two artist's seals, together reading Xiao Song. The shoulder is flanked by two elephant-head handles beneath a brown-dressed rim.
14¼ in. (36 cm.) high

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Lot Essay

Lidaoren is the pseudonym of Cheng Men (1834-1908), who is recorded in a Republic publication, Zhongguo huajia renming cidian (A Dictionary of Chinese Artists), as an artist of the late Qing period renowned for his paintings of landscapes, figures and flowers. Cheng Men was also known to have enameled ceramics at Jingdezhen, and together with his contemporaries Jin Pinqing and Wang Shaowei, was a pioneer in the use of soft matte enamels on ceramics which had a profound effect on the work of later artists of the Republic period. Cheng Kai (dates unknown), or Cheng Chongkai, was the son of Cheng Men, and like his father, was also a ceramic artist known to have painted in the qianjiang style.

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