Double gourde vase with the Eighteen scholars in underglaze blue, Mid-Ming dynasty, 1436-1464-China Archive

Image Number: K1B006482N000000000PAO
Dynasty: Ming dynasty
Category: Ceramics
Function: Container
Material: Mineral/ceramic/porcelain
Description:
The gourd bottle has a flat and slightly concave bottom, an exposed tire with sand particles, and a slightly skewed body. The whole vessel depicts multi-layer patterns with blue and white flowers. The mouth edge, the lower part of the junction between the upper and lower bottle bodies, and the bottom of the vessel each have a deformed lotus petal pattern. The body depicts eighteen scholars and several children accompanying them as “Qin”, “Chess”, “Book”, “Painting” and other scenes, respectively. The scenes are separated by thin curly cloud patterns. The blue and white flowers are elegant in color and delicately depicted. According to the style of cloud patterns and figures, they can be classified as works in the middle of the Ming Dynasty. The Ashmolean Museum in England has similar collections.