
Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
Sold for £15,000 inc. premium
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明崇禎 青花平升三級葫蘆瓶
Provenance: a German private collection, acquired from Bernheimer Gallery, Munich
來源:德國私人收藏,購自慕尼黑古董商Bernheimer Gallery
A blue and white brushpot, c.1635-1645, with similar decoration of a man carrying a vase with halberds is illustrated in Seventeenth Century Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Family Collection, Alexandria, 1990, pl.42.
The scene depicts an attendant carrying a vase with three 'halberds' (ji 戟), which is a homophone for 'grade' (ji 級). The vase with three halberds, is a rebus for rising within the bureaucracy three grades (lian sheng san ji 連升三級), embodying the yearning of every scholar official in Imperial China.