Revolving brush holder with “Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches” motif in yangcai painted enamels, Qianlong reign (1736-1795), Qing dynasty

Revolving brush holder with “Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches” motif in yangcai painted enamels, Qianlong reign (1736-1795), Qing dynasty

• Image Number: K1B013531N000000000PAC
• Dynasty: Qing dynasty
• Category: Ceramics
• Function: Stationery
• Material: Minerals/Ceramics/
• Description:
  In the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, Jingdezhen in the Qing Dynasty created a bottle that could rotate in an innovative manner, called the Jiaotai bottle. This pen holder can rotate and move. When making it, the mouth edge is connected with the inner wall of the device as one piece, the bottom is one piece, and the outer wall is composed of one piece, the lower part and the upper part of the body respectively. A total of four pieces are burned and combined. The upper and lower parts of the outer wall are sleeved into the inner wall, and the chassis is bonded with the bottom of the inner wall, so that the upper part of the outer wall can rotate freely. The upper and lower parts of the outer wall of the utensil are painted in the shape of gourd and melon. Inside, there are ten sky stems and twelve earth branches written in ink on the yellow glaze ground. The minimum common multiple of the two is 60, which is the 60 year Jiazi calendar of China. The outer wall of the utensil is decorated with continuous patterns of gourds and leaf vines, and the brocade ground is formed with blue glazed grass patterns, which is a metaphor for the continuity of melons. The inner wall and bottom of the utensil are covered with blue lake green colored glaze, and there is a square blank on the bottom