141.
A ‘FAMILLE VERTE’ BALUSTER VASE, YEN YEN
Qing dynasty, Kangxi period, late 17th – early 18th century
44,5 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 5345.
The personages on the neck of this vase are the three deities together known as Fu Lu Shou, or the ‘Three Star Gods’ (sanxing) because each of them is related to a particular star or planet, respectively connoting happiness, wealth and longevity. Fuxing, here portrayed on the left side of the scene, identified with Jupiter, is usually depicted as an old man with a child in his arms, being the children the greatest blessing for Chinese society. Luxing, the standing man at the centre of the composition with a scroll with unreadable calligraphy and related to the Ursa Majoris, is the god of rank and emolument. The third figure on the right is Shouxing, the god of longevity and the emblem of Canopus, the star of the South Pole in Chinese astronomy; his main characteristics are the large cranium, the long eyebrows and beard, all signs of a venerable age; he holds in his hands a peach, the fruit the Daoist immortals eat to prolong their supernatural condition.
The body shows a scene with five old men enjoying and discussing a painting or a calligraphy in the format of an unfolded scroll.
The origins of the theme of scholars admiring a scroll can be traced back to very old times of Chinese history, considered as one of the pastimes preferred by the most eminent members of the cultural élite of the country during those “elegant gatherings” (yaji) which were periodically organized. The most famous of this meeting happened in the year 353 at the Orchid Pavilion, which saw also the raise of the artistry of the illustrious calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303-361). From the Song dynasty, the engaging in the connoisseurship of paintings became one of the Four Gentleman Activities, collectively know as “zither, chess, calligraphy, painting” (qin qi shu hua). In the painting by Xie Hua (1377-1452) entitled the “Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden” (Xingyuan yaji tu), some high officials of the early Ming dynasty are admiring a painted scroll during a famous meeting which took place on 6 April 1437 in the house of Yang Rong (1371-1440), not far from Beijing (G. Clunas, in London 2014, pp. 190-192).
Respect to the numerous paintings which describe real gatherings, the personages depicted on this vase are purely fictional. Their facial features and the robe they dress resemble characteristics which seem to belong to supernatural beings, such as Daoist immortals, thus elevating the joy of admire a painting or a calligraphy from human realm to the kingdom of gods.
