Refined white porcelain vase with an elongated ovoid shape with a flared neck and gold rim, belonging to the yuchunping (“spring vase”) typology. The piece features two perforated plastic handles applied to the neck, in the shape of a stylized cloud or perforated rock (taihu shi), enameled in brown-black with golden touches — an elegant decorative element with a sober taste, consistent with the overall style of the vase.
The decoration develops on two opposing sides using a technique of soft polychrome enamels on a milky white background, in a refined palette of celadon greens, pale pinks, iron browns and touches of yellow — characteristic of the Chinese ceramic production of the qianjiang style (浅绛彩), a pictorial technique developed in the second half of the nineteenth century and continued in the early twentieth century.
The main side depicts a garden scene with female figures — palace ladies or literary figures — portrayed under a flowering plum branch (meihua) with purple-red buds, next to green rocks and flowers. The figures, rendered with fine and delicate strokes, wear traditional clothing in shades of green and light blue, in an atmosphere of quiet and refinement typically literary. Furnishing elements such as tables, seats and study objects appear in the background.
The opposite side is entirely occupied by a long poetic inscription in Chinese characters in the cursive calligraphic style (xingshu), on several vertical columns, with a red seal at the bottom left — a typical practice of the Qianjiang pictorial and ceramic tradition, in which text and image integrate harmoniously. The verses, elegiac and lyrical in tone, seem to evoke female beauty and spring nature, with references to the plum tree in bloom, to the face as rosy as a peach (táo huā hóng shàng nǐ sāi hóng miàn) and to images of door and perfume — recurring stylistic features in classical Chinese poetry on love and sentimental subjects.
Conservation status: good.
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SILVER Seller in Venezia, Italy
