Silver plated fire bowl with longevity character

[Silver gilded fire bowl with longevity character]

Silver gilded fire bowl with longevity character, late Qing Dynasty, 25 cm high, 22.8 cm in diameter
The fire bowl is made of silver and consists of three parts. The fire bowl, triangle bracket and small silver alcohol bowl can be separated. The bowl cover and the bowl body are carved with the word “longevity”, and the triangular support is designed in the shape of Ruyi, all of which fully reflect the auspicious and beautiful meaning of the decoration of the Qing Palace utensils
The word “longevity” is a symbol used by people to pray for longevity. Since ancient times, there are more than 300 patterns evolved from the word “longevity”. Among them, there are single-character ideographic patterns, the elder is called “longevity”, the rounder is called “round longevity” or “group longevity”, etc., and there are also multi-character ideographic patterns, such as “longevity map”, “double longevity map”, etc., which are composed of different forms of “longevity”. “Shou” is widely used in daily life and ritual life in the Qing Dynasty. There are also those who use the symbol of “longevity” in the making of meals. In the Qing Dynasty, Kong Lingyi congratulated Empress Dowager Cixi on the birthday of four large bowls of vegetables, including “ten thousand”, “longevity”, “none” and “Xinjiang”, and among the four cakes, there are “longevity oil cakes”
The fire bowl is a kind of warm tableware in the palace, which is used for warm food in the palace. This silver-plated fire bowl with the character of longevity was used for the emperor’s birthday feast. It is exquisite and is one of the typical imperial dining utensils in the Qing Dynasty