R10 A “Singing bird” footed bowl, signed and dated, late Qing

Descrizione

Description:   Chinese porcelain octagonal footed bowl, decorated in qianjiang style, bearing an inscription with the date of Summer Xin Si, (1881), which makes it one of the earliest examples of qianjiang style painted porcelains. It is signed xiangshan shi (香山氏）, which is another name with which the well-known qianjiang artist Yu Huanwen (余焕文）used to address himself. The inscription 富贵到白头, which can be translated as “May you be wealthy till you are old”, is to express well wishes to someone to have continuous wealth. Thus, the picture is painted with the peony flower, a symbol associated with wealth, and a bird with a white head. The bird, light-vented Bulbul or Chinese Bulbul, known as 白头鹎 or 白头翁, has a patch of white feather on top of its head and symbolize old age. It is therefore a symbol of longevity or old age as human hair turns white when we grow old. The reverse of the bowl is decorated with blossoming prunus branches.

Dating:  Guangxu period.

Size:  22.5 cm diameter

Provenance:  Antiquarian market.

References:

Notes:  For Qianjiang style, see the Notes of the tray R6