53.
A WUCAI ENAMELLED DOUBLE-GOURD VASE, HULUPING
Qing dynasty, Shunzhi period
46,7 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891) collection.
inv. n. 4099.
The lower globular section with four panels with compositions of rocks and flowers, each divided from the other by a vertical band with a motif of lozenges enclosed by ruyi heads; the shoulder with a frieze of ‘crackled ice’; the pear-shaped upper section with a dense foliate scroll of peonies.
All the decoration painted with enamels of the wucai palette, including underglaze blue and overglaze black, red, yellow and green.
The vase is in the form of a double-gourd. In Daoism the double-gourd is associated with the immortal Li Tieguai, and according to the myth the gourd has spirals of smoke ascending from it, denoting the immortal’s power to set his spirit free from his body; according to another version the gourd held medicine which he dispensed to the poor and needy.
