Page 106 - Bonhams UK Marsh Collection Art for the Literati November 2, 2022
P. 106
The present lot is laden with auspicious symbolism and wordplay. The The decoration on the present lot is rare for its gilding, which is a most
theme of magpies (xique 喜鵲), a homophone for 'happiness' (xi 喜), unusual feature to survive to the present day. The design also appears
on top (shang 上) of prunus branches (meishao 梅梢), which puns to be related to woodblock prints of flowers and birds, such as the
with 'eyebrows' (meishao 眉梢) forms a rebus for the blessing, 'May Shizhuzhai shuhua pu (Ten Bamboo Studio Manual of Calligraphy
happiness reach up to your eyebrows' (喜上眉梢). and Painting), published by Hu Zhengyan (1584-1674) and printed
between 1619 and 1633. The increasing availability of illustrated
woodblock printed books, including pharmaceutical literature dealing
with plants and their medicinal properties helped facilitate their design
on porcelain.
106 | BONHAMS
