Kangxi
Each boldly painted around the upper sections with continuous scenes of kneeling or seated scholars before dignitaries, the central sections with three floral sprays between key-fret borders and the lower sections with further continuous scenes of scholars and dignitaries with attendants at leisure. Each 44.5cm (17 1/2in) high (2).

Footnotes

清康熙青花人物故事圖花觚一對

On one vase, three men kneel before the dignitary; these men carry a boot, a wine bottle, and one jue vessel used for drinking wine. This could refer to the story of the famous Tang dynasty poet Li Bai (AD 701-762) who often came to court drunk. He once even forced the powerful eunuch Gao Lishi to pull of his boots in front of the Emperor. For a jar dated to 1650-1665 with very similar decoration, see Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, Alexandria, 2002, pp.216-217. The lower register of the same vase is also decorated with a continuous scene of an attendant carrying a vase with three arrows. For a brushpot dated c.1635-1645 with similar decoration, see Seventeenth-Century Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Family Collection, Alexandria, 1990, pp.84-85.

The lower register of the other vase depicts the poet Tao Yuanming (AD 365-427) renowned for his love of wine and association with chrysanthemums as a symbol of rustic autumnal retirement.

Compare with a single related blue and white beaker vase, Kangxi, which was sold at Christie's Amsterdam on 20 November 2012, lot 50.

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- Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art