A CHINESE WUCAI JAR, Shunzhi (1644‑1661)
Height: 17 cm; 6 1/4 ins
BH41
BH41
Further images
The wide rounded body supported on a circular base, the sides rising to a wide shoulder set with a short straight neck, decorated in bright wucai enamels with a scene...
The wide rounded body supported on a circular base, the sides rising to a wide shoulder set with a short straight neck, decorated in bright wucai enamels with a scene of five little boys in a terraced garden, three riding hobby horses, another holding a large lotus leaf aloft, one holding a halberd, playing among rockwork and plantain, the shoulder with four cartouches enclosing fruits reserved on a diaper pattern ground, the base glazed.
Literature
The decoration on this vase of little boys playing and riding hobby horses is a popular theme on Chinese decorative arts, being viewed as an auspicious symbol associated with the wish for sons and grandsons, and thus the continuation of the family line as well as the prosperity of the family.The term 'on top of a horse' mashang also means 'immediately', and so a young boy riding a horse suggests the imminent birth of a boy. The horse is additionally a symbol of peace.
The manufacturing technique of wucai decoration on porcelain was to first fire the vessel with a cobalt blue underglaze for part of the design, this was around 1100°C. Then the enamels including, in this case, red, yellow and green were applied and fired at a lower temperature of between 850-900°C. Although wucai means five colours the number of colours used varied.
