Bowl with peacock in falangcai painted enamels, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng reign 1723-1736

Bowl with peacock in falangcai painted enamels, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng reign 1723-1736

• Image Number: K1B013984N000000000PAF
• Dynasty: Qing dynasty
• Category: Ceramics
• Function: Container
• Material: Minerals/Ceramics/
• Description:
  The bowl has a wide mouth, a deep arc wall, and a shallow circle of feet. Glazes are applied inside and outside the whole vessel. On one side of the outer wall of the bowl, a pair of peacocks, ribbon birds and magpies are painted, as well as various auspicious patterns such as crabapples, bamboo stones and magnolias. In particular, the combination of magnolia and begonia has the homonym of “Jade Hall”, while the ribbon bird represents longevity, the peacock represents auspiciousness, and the magpie represents joy. Therefore, the whole decorative pattern has the symbolic meaning of “Jade Hall Celebrates Birthday”. On the other side of the outer wall was inscribed in ink, “Shake the golden green tail and dance in the shade of the jade pond”. Two lines of poems were written by Wu Yuanheng, a poet of the Tang Dynasty. Before and after the poem, three seals of “politicization”, “peace” and “prosperity” are depicted in red materials. Through “politicization and peace”, the motif in the painting has the symbolic meaning of peace and prosperity. The inner wall of the bowl is smooth and plain, and the outer bottom of the bowl is written in two lines of Song typeface with four characters “made in Yongzheng year” in blue material