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Lot Essay
The decoration of this impressive vase is very auspicious.
The playful design of bats and clouds is interpreted by J. Stuart, Joined Colors - Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain, Washington DC, 1993, p.97, as meaning "vast happiness piled up to the sky." The author further explains, "The symbol of a red bat is combined with colored clouds that represent the upper limits of heaven (hongfu qitian). The words for bat and happiness have the same sound, fu, while the word 'cloud' (yun) is a homonym for the word 'luck.'
An 18th century cloisonné double-gourd vase from the Uldry Collection is entirely decorated with similar patterns including clouds, bats and shou characters. It is illustrated in H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonné - Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum Rietberg, Zurich 1985, pl.246.
The playful design of bats and clouds is interpreted by J. Stuart, Joined Colors - Decoration and Meaning in Chinese Porcelain, Washington DC, 1993, p.97, as meaning "vast happiness piled up to the sky." The author further explains, "The symbol of a red bat is combined with colored clouds that represent the upper limits of heaven (hongfu qitian). The words for bat and happiness have the same sound, fu, while the word 'cloud' (yun) is a homonym for the word 'luck.'
An 18th century cloisonné double-gourd vase from the Uldry Collection is entirely decorated with similar patterns including clouds, bats and shou characters. It is illustrated in H. Brinker and A. Lutz, Chinesisches Cloisonné - Die Sammlung Pierre Uldry, Museum Rietberg, Zurich 1985, pl.246.