Blue and white underglazed red pine, bamboo and plum vase

[Blue and white underglazed red pine bamboo plum vase]

Blue and white underglazed red pine bamboo plum vase, 26.5 cm high, 8.9 cm caliber, and 11 cm foot diameter
The bottle is closed, with short neck, full shoulder, gradually closing under the belly, and curling around the foot. There are six characters in the foot blue and white regular script “made in Yongzheng year of the Qing Dynasty”
This bottle is beautiful in shape and is decorated with the picture of three friends in the cold. The picture depicts the trunk of plum branches, pine needles, bamboos and rocks in turquoise blue and white, and the old trunk of pine and the proud plum flowers in dark underglaze red. Particularly commendable is the five-character quatrain composed of bamboo leaves in the picture: “The bamboo has the power to lift the sky, the pine bears the cold of the year, the plum flowers are the most numerous flowers, and the three friends are happy at four times
The pattern of “three friends of the old and the cold” painted on this piece is a common decorative theme in Ming and Qing porcelain. The pine tree is evergreen, the bamboo has the style of a gentleman, and the plum blossom is frosty and arrogant. The ancient literati and poets often describe themselves as the high and dignified pine, bamboo and plum.