清康熙 景德鎮窯青花福祿萬代葫蘆瓶|Gourd-shaped vase with gourds on vines and bats

Unknown

early 18th century · Porcelain painted in underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware) · Asian Art

Beyond the appeal of its sinuous form and elegant blue-and-white decoration, this gourd-shaped vase would have been treasured for the layers of auspicious meaning encoded in its decoration. The image of gourds on vines is a rebus, or visual word puzzle, for “fortune and prosperity through ten thousand generations” (fulu wandai), while the combination of bats and gourds forms a second rebus for “good fortune and wealth” (fulu).

Artist

Unknown

Date

early 18th century

Medium

Porcelain painted in underglaze cobalt blue (Jingdezhen ware)

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase by subscription, 1879