A LONGQUAN CELADON MINIATURE 'TWIN FISH' BRUSHWASHER AND A LONGQUAN 'INSECT' BRUSHWASHER

Yuan Dynasty

Footnotes

元 龍泉窯青釉貼塑雙魚紋洗 及龍泉窯青釉貼塑蟲紋洗

Provenance: Professor Cheng Te-K'un (1908-2001) (The twin fish washer)
Roger Keverne Ltd., London, 28 March 2006 (invoice) (The twin fish washer)

來源： 鄭德坤教授（1908-2001）（雙魚洗）
倫敦古董商Roger Keverne Ltd.，2006年3月28日 （發票）（雙魚洗）

Professor Cheng, a Chinese archaeologist, was Curator of the West China University Museum at Chengdu in Sichuan. He left China and formed the Mu-fei Library at the University of Cambridge, where he was Lecturer in Far Eastern Art and Archaeology, 1951-1966; Reader in Chinese Archaeology, 1966-1974. He served as Visiting Professor of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1974, and later became Dean of Arts, and Pro-Vice Chancellor. In 1978 he founded, and was Director of, the Centre for Chinese Archaeology and Art, CUHK. He retired in 1979 and was made Honorary Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, 1981-1986. CUHK awarded him the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature in 1981, and Emeritus Professor of Fine Arts in 1982. His publications on Chinese archaeology include: Archaeology in China (3 volumes and supplement), Cambridge, 1966; The world of the Chinese, Hong Kong, 1981; and Studies in Chinese archaeology, Hong Kong, 1982.

The twin fish motif symbolises harmony, abundance, and prosperity. Compare with a related but slightly larger Longquan celadon dish with twin-fish design, 13th century, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (acc.no.65.82.4).