Page 30 - Metropolitan Museum Collection September 2016

Lot 887

Lot 884 Lot 883

Lot 882 found their way to Europe. The splendid fgure of Lu Xing (lot 878), is accompanied by
28 a detachable throne. The throne is formed from thick slabs of porcelain clay, and must
have been quite tricky to fre. Lu Xing is one of the Three Daoist Star Gods of Longevity,
High Rank and Happiness. They were deities linked by astrologers to planets and stars in
the sky. Lu Xing, deity of High Rank, holds a ruyi (wish-fulflling) sceptre in one hand and
wears the cap and robes of an offcial. On his robes are cranes (symbolic of long life) and
roundels containing the Chinese character shou “longevity”. On the backrest of the throne,
behind the fgure, is a painted qilin. This imposing fgure, and the two vases (lots 872, 873)
were bequested by the fnancier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr, who may have
known about their auspicious qualities.

The striking vessel (lot 887) is undoubtedly a ewer, based on a European metal or glass
form. But what shall we call the smaller pots lots 882, 883, 884, and 889? Are they ewers,
or teapots? Undoubtedly a vast numbers of teapots were made for Europeans, at a time
when tea drinking was becoming fashionable. People continued to use durable Chinese
porcelain for many years. For example, an elderly lady called Miss Bird, from Kent in
England, was still using a Kangxi period teapot in 1887 when she brought it into the
Victoria and Albert Museum. Her teapot had an imitation rattan handle quite similar to
that of lots 884 and 889.6