KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

The four scenes depicted in gilt are from woodblock prints known as the Gengzhi Tu (Illustrations of Ploughing and Weaving) that were produced in printed form in 1696. The Kangxi Emperor instructed prints to be made based on original paintings by the court artist, Jiao Bingzhen, which comprised twenty-three illustrations of farming, and an equal number of silk production.

Each vignette on the present remarkable vase is finely rendered in gilt and is accompanied by a short descriptive verse summarizing the scene. The two depicting silk production represent 'changing trays' and 'selection of cocoons', and the two from agricultural scenes depict 'threshing' and 'pounding'.

Originally these illustrations served as didactic material for teaching princes and officials the importance of agricultural and sericulture, although in their woodblock form these images provided templates for many different types of works of art in the Qing dynasty. Scenes of 'ploughing and weaving' were particularly popular on Kangxi-period famille verte wares, many times accompanied by a descriptive inscription, such as a dish sold at Christie's New York, 14-15 September 2017, lot 1194, with a scene of farmers sifting rice. The themes also extended into a variety of media such as a carved spinach-green jade brush pot, illustrated by J. Rawson, Chinese Jade: From the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, pp. 407-408, fig. 29:18; and scenes on a mother-of-pearl screen dated to the first quarter of 18th century, sold at Christie's London, 10 June 1996, lot 212.

A pair of related, large powder-blue and gilt phoenix-tail vases with landscape scenes and inscriptions are in the Schloss Fasanerie, Eichenzell, Germany.