R28 A “Painting of orchid” water pot, Tongzhi

Description

Description:   Chinese porcelain small water pot of bell form with a spreading foot, decorated with orchids and part of a poem on a red background of orange/yellowish tone. The decoration was made by applying templates or resists, shaping either the orchids and the inscription, over the glaze and then covering the whole surface with iron oxides by blowing it through a tube with gauze over the end. It is the same technique of the much more common items known as “powder blue”. The difference between blown powder glaze or enamels and other plain glazes is the size of the oxide particles, which appears visible as powder specks giving the color a finely mottled appearance, void of brush’s tracks. The inscription, read top to bottom, right to left, is: 日暖风微次第开 “Warm sun and gentle breeze”, and it is an excerpt of the poem 题画兰   “Painting on orchids” by the Ming poet Wen Zhengming (1470 – 1559), who was born in Suzhou and was one of the prominent painters, poets, and calligraphers of the time, known as one of the “Four Talents of Wuzhong”.

The whole poem is:

题画兰

手培兰蕙两三栽，日暖风微次第开。

坐久不知香在室，推窗时有蝶飞来。

“The painting of Orchid.

I planted two or three orchids with my own hands, and they bloomed one after another in the warmth of the sun and the gentle breeze.

I was not aware of the fragrance in the room when I sat there for a long time, but when I opened the window, a butterfly flew in”. (See Notes here below).

Dating:  Tongzhi period, 1856 – 1875.

Size:  5.4 cm high

Provenance:  Antiquarian market

References:  Bell shaped water pots are rare, as we have found only one example, sold at an Auction House, oxblood red glazed, 6.1 cm high, and described as brush washer.

Notes:   This poem expresses Wen Zhengming’s delicate feelings about the beauty of nature by depicting the natural growth of orchids in the warm sun and breeze. The sentence “Sitting for a long time and not knowing the fragrance in the room” cleverly reflects people’s neglect of beautiful things in a familiar environment, while “When I opened the window, butterflies flew in” vividly depicts the scene of the orchid fragrance attracting butterflies, adding poetic and vivid feelings.