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Lot Essay
Blessings, Longevity, and Great Accomplishments
Rosemary Scott
Independent Scholar
This delicately painted vase has decoration which includes themes of blessings, long life, and great accomplishments. The auspicious wishes are seen particularly clearly in the composition of the extremely rare handles on either side of the neck of the vessel. While archaistic chi dragon handles were frequently applied to fine quality imperial enamelled porcelains of the Qianlong reign – as seen, for example, on a large deer vase from the Nanjing Museum (illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty - The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 290), usually there was only a single dragon on each side. On the current vase, however, there are two chi dragons on each side – one shown ascending and the other descending. Between them the paired dragons hold an iron-red decorated lingzhi fungus of immortality – providing a wish for long life.
An abundance of other auspicious symbols has been incorporated into the decoration on this vase. Beneath the mouth rim is a band of ruyi , suggesting a wish for ‘everything as you desire’. Below the ruyi band is an overglaze iron red enamelled bat. In the Chinese arts bats (蝠 fu) provide a rebus for blessings or happiness (福 fu), while red, as well as being the most auspicious colour is pronounced (紅 hong) the same as a word meaning vast or ample (洪 hong), thus red bats symbolize vast happiness. The red bats on the vase are depicted upside-down. This is because the word for upside-down (倒 dao) has the same sound as the word for arrived (到 dao). Therefore, an upside-down bat indicates the ‘arrival of happiness or blessings’. The bat on the neck of the vase is hovering above what looks like a green double lotus seedpod, with a pink lotus blossom beneath. In traditional Chinese culture the lotus has many auspicious meanings. It is associated with Buddhism, is symbolic of beauty and purity, and both the lotus flower and the lotus leaf provide a pun for harmony. The various names for the lotus also provide rebuses auguring the imminent and continual arrival of illustrious sons. An unusual feature of the lotus is that the seedpod is already visible when the flower begins to open, and this too is believed to suggest the early birth of sons. The fact that the lotus displays buds, flowers and seed pods at the same time is felt to represent the three stages of existence – past, present, and future.
The fact that a double lotus seedpod is depicted is significant. Double lotuses - bingdilian 并蒂蓮 or bingtoulian 并頭連 - were highly prized, being regarded as particularly auspicious and could also suggest the reign of a wise and virtuous ruler, and successful future endeavours. Such double lotuses were also a literary reference to a loving couple who would enjoy eternal harmony. They were sometimes known as qianbanlian (千瓣連 a thousand things accomplished lotus). On a double lotus the original bud divides into two meristem centres and produces twin flower buds, which open into paired blooms. Such double lotuses are especially valued because they cannot be induced artificially nor specially bred. Their appearance is rare and entirely natural, and their two flowers will in turn produce two seed pods.
Auspicious wishes are continued in the decoration applied to the main body of the current vase. Another upside-down bat – this time delicately painted in speckled pink enamels -hovers over a ruyi , and on either side of the ruyi are paired peaches. Peaches are symbolic of longevity, and reason for this is linked to the stories surrounding Xi Wang Mu 西王母 (the Queen Mother of West), who was believed to live in a fabulous palace, high in the Kunlun Mountains. In the palace orchard grew peach trees, which bore fruit that took three thousand years to ripen but conferred long life on anyone who ate them - hence the various stories of their being stolen. The Star God of Longevity, Shoulao is almost always depicted holding a peach. With four peaches on one side and another four peaches on the other, there are eight peaches depicted on the current vase. Eight is the most auspicious number in China, and eight peaches also represent the Eight Daoist Immortals. Apparently suspended from the ruyi between the peaches is an underglaze blue element, which could represent a flower, but could also represent a qing 磬 or chiming stone, which provides a rebus for qing 慶 meaning celebration or joy. The Star God of Longevity Shoulao, is often shown with a qing chiming stone, as well as a peach.
Thus, the decorative elements on the current vase, not only create a delicate and attractive design, but also provide wishes for long-life, blessings, great accomplishments and celebration. The vase was originally one of a pair, and would have made a most appropriate gift on the occasion of an imperial birthday. The decoration on the vase was applied using underglaze cobalt blue combined with overglaze famille rose enamels. In view of the small size and wide spacing of the underglaze blue elements, the design must have been composed and applied with exceptional accuracy and care, since the blue elements could not be changed after the first firing and the overglaze enamels have been fitted around them in a skilful and harmonious manner.
The classic form of the current was popular in the 18th and 19th century, but is most frequently seen with underglaze cobalt blue decoration, and without handles - as in the case of the slightly taller vase illustrated by the Nanjing Museum in Treasures in the Royalty - The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 233. Similar blue and white Qianlong vases were sold by Christie’s New York in March 2011, lot 1673, and in March 2009, lots 567 and 738. It is interesting to note that, like the current overglaze enamelled vase, the blue and white Nanjing vase displays a low torque at the junction of neck and shoulder. This feature, which serves no purpose on a ceramic vessel, often suggests that the form has its origin in a metalwork shape. This inclusion of a low torque on a porcelain vessel can be seen even more clearly on vessels where the whole shape can easily be traced to an earlier bronze form. An example is a Yongzheng blue and white pouring vessel in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 36, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 123, no. 109.
This vase was previously part of the collection belonging to Henry Schwab. Henry Charles Schwab (1867-1941) was a Chicago-born American businessman and generous philanthropist. Having attended Yale University, he held executive positions at Rothschild & Co., as well as with Selz, Schwab & Co. He was a keen collector of East Asian art, with particular emphasis on the porcelains of 17th and 18th century China. On his death in 1941, he bequeathed his collection of Chinese art to the Art Institute of Chicago, and his collection of Japanese art to the Field Museum. The Chinese ceramics bequeathed to the Art Institute numbered some three hundred items, a selection of which were proudly displayed near to the Institute’s front entrance shortly after receipt of this substantial gift.
Rosemary Scott
Independent Scholar
This delicately painted vase has decoration which includes themes of blessings, long life, and great accomplishments. The auspicious wishes are seen particularly clearly in the composition of the extremely rare handles on either side of the neck of the vessel. While archaistic chi dragon handles were frequently applied to fine quality imperial enamelled porcelains of the Qianlong reign – as seen, for example, on a large deer vase from the Nanjing Museum (illustrated in Treasures in the Royalty - The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 290), usually there was only a single dragon on each side. On the current vase, however, there are two chi dragons on each side – one shown ascending and the other descending. Between them the paired dragons hold an iron-red decorated lingzhi fungus of immortality – providing a wish for long life.
An abundance of other auspicious symbols has been incorporated into the decoration on this vase. Beneath the mouth rim is a band of ruyi , suggesting a wish for ‘everything as you desire’. Below the ruyi band is an overglaze iron red enamelled bat. In the Chinese arts bats (蝠 fu) provide a rebus for blessings or happiness (福 fu), while red, as well as being the most auspicious colour is pronounced (紅 hong) the same as a word meaning vast or ample (洪 hong), thus red bats symbolize vast happiness. The red bats on the vase are depicted upside-down. This is because the word for upside-down (倒 dao) has the same sound as the word for arrived (到 dao). Therefore, an upside-down bat indicates the ‘arrival of happiness or blessings’. The bat on the neck of the vase is hovering above what looks like a green double lotus seedpod, with a pink lotus blossom beneath. In traditional Chinese culture the lotus has many auspicious meanings. It is associated with Buddhism, is symbolic of beauty and purity, and both the lotus flower and the lotus leaf provide a pun for harmony. The various names for the lotus also provide rebuses auguring the imminent and continual arrival of illustrious sons. An unusual feature of the lotus is that the seedpod is already visible when the flower begins to open, and this too is believed to suggest the early birth of sons. The fact that the lotus displays buds, flowers and seed pods at the same time is felt to represent the three stages of existence – past, present, and future.
The fact that a double lotus seedpod is depicted is significant. Double lotuses - bingdilian 并蒂蓮 or bingtoulian 并頭連 - were highly prized, being regarded as particularly auspicious and could also suggest the reign of a wise and virtuous ruler, and successful future endeavours. Such double lotuses were also a literary reference to a loving couple who would enjoy eternal harmony. They were sometimes known as qianbanlian (千瓣連 a thousand things accomplished lotus). On a double lotus the original bud divides into two meristem centres and produces twin flower buds, which open into paired blooms. Such double lotuses are especially valued because they cannot be induced artificially nor specially bred. Their appearance is rare and entirely natural, and their two flowers will in turn produce two seed pods.
Auspicious wishes are continued in the decoration applied to the main body of the current vase. Another upside-down bat – this time delicately painted in speckled pink enamels -hovers over a ruyi , and on either side of the ruyi are paired peaches. Peaches are symbolic of longevity, and reason for this is linked to the stories surrounding Xi Wang Mu 西王母 (the Queen Mother of West), who was believed to live in a fabulous palace, high in the Kunlun Mountains. In the palace orchard grew peach trees, which bore fruit that took three thousand years to ripen but conferred long life on anyone who ate them - hence the various stories of their being stolen. The Star God of Longevity, Shoulao is almost always depicted holding a peach. With four peaches on one side and another four peaches on the other, there are eight peaches depicted on the current vase. Eight is the most auspicious number in China, and eight peaches also represent the Eight Daoist Immortals. Apparently suspended from the ruyi between the peaches is an underglaze blue element, which could represent a flower, but could also represent a qing 磬 or chiming stone, which provides a rebus for qing 慶 meaning celebration or joy. The Star God of Longevity Shoulao, is often shown with a qing chiming stone, as well as a peach.
Thus, the decorative elements on the current vase, not only create a delicate and attractive design, but also provide wishes for long-life, blessings, great accomplishments and celebration. The vase was originally one of a pair, and would have made a most appropriate gift on the occasion of an imperial birthday. The decoration on the vase was applied using underglaze cobalt blue combined with overglaze famille rose enamels. In view of the small size and wide spacing of the underglaze blue elements, the design must have been composed and applied with exceptional accuracy and care, since the blue elements could not be changed after the first firing and the overglaze enamels have been fitted around them in a skilful and harmonious manner.
The classic form of the current was popular in the 18th and 19th century, but is most frequently seen with underglaze cobalt blue decoration, and without handles - as in the case of the slightly taller vase illustrated by the Nanjing Museum in Treasures in the Royalty - The Official Kiln Porcelain of the Chinese Qing Dynasty, Shanghai, 2003, p. 233. Similar blue and white Qianlong vases were sold by Christie’s New York in March 2011, lot 1673, and in March 2009, lots 567 and 738. It is interesting to note that, like the current overglaze enamelled vase, the blue and white Nanjing vase displays a low torque at the junction of neck and shoulder. This feature, which serves no purpose on a ceramic vessel, often suggests that the form has its origin in a metalwork shape. This inclusion of a low torque on a porcelain vessel can be seen even more clearly on vessels where the whole shape can easily be traced to an earlier bronze form. An example is a Yongzheng blue and white pouring vessel in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (III), The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 36, Hong Kong, 2000, p. 123, no. 109.
This vase was previously part of the collection belonging to Henry Schwab. Henry Charles Schwab (1867-1941) was a Chicago-born American businessman and generous philanthropist. Having attended Yale University, he held executive positions at Rothschild & Co., as well as with Selz, Schwab & Co. He was a keen collector of East Asian art, with particular emphasis on the porcelains of 17th and 18th century China. On his death in 1941, he bequeathed his collection of Chinese art to the Art Institute of Chicago, and his collection of Japanese art to the Field Museum. The Chinese ceramics bequeathed to the Art Institute numbered some three hundred items, a selection of which were proudly displayed near to the Institute’s front entrance shortly after receipt of this substantial gift.