Page 50 - For the Love of Porcelain

dog, pig) and the five elements (earth,
wood, metal, fire, water. Shou images draw
attention to both how long the individual
celebrating the birthday has lived as well as
impart the wish that he or she lives many
more years.
Chinese sixtieth birthday observances for
those with wealth and power include lavishly
ornamented decorative arts. In the past, these
included elaborately embroidered birthday
hangings, which in the Qing dynasty (1644–
1911) could have images of bai shou (‘one
hundred longevity characters’) in a multitude
of forms. Legend has it that sixtieth birthday
celebrations for the notorious Empress
Dowager Cixi (1835–1908) included the
production of a colourful silk embroidered
3 hanging with more than four thousand 4
Artist/maker different versions of the character shou. A Artist/maker unknown,
unknown, ‘One Hundred nineteenth-century birthday hanging with Wanshou vase, Qing
Representations of seal script shou characters in gold brocade dynasty, Kangxi period
the Character Shou now in the collection of the Philadelphia (1662 - 1722), porcelain
(Longevity)’, Chinese, Museum of Art may not be as elaborate as with underglaze cobalt
Qing dynasty, those produced for Cixi, but it is still a quite blue, h. 76.5 cm,
1644 - 1911, sumptuous example of a birthday hanging Palace Museum, Beijing,
Ink on paper (rubbing of (fig. 2). inv. no. Gu 156997
a stone tablet),
h. 133.4, w. 55.9 cm, During the Ming (1368–1644) and
Philadelphia Museum of Qing dynasties (1644–1911), when the
Art, inv. no. 1924-36-6, Princessehof vase and the Philadelphia
gift of Horace H.F. Jayne, Museum of Art birthday hangings were
1924 produced, there was a proliferation of objects
with multiple images of the character shou on
them. The popularisation of these images,
dynasty (221–207 BC) unification of China. particularly in a plethora of calligraphic
The character shou functioned as an esteemed script forms, included archaic versions. This
decorative element in East Asia long before phenomenon occurred when a specific form
the Jiajing emperor’s reign and retains this of antiquarian studies had developed in
status until today because of its auspicious China and the fruits of these studies became
meaning. Ceramics are just one of the accessible to a broader audience through
many media shou characters are found on. publication.
Imagery evoking longevity and immortality
are a customary part of traditional birthday Over thousands of years a few standard forms
celebrations in China. They are popularly of characters and multiple variant forms
used when celebrating major milestones in have developed. Chinese scholars have been
later life such as a sixtieth birthday, which compiling references with multiple forms of
is of special significance for both men and the character for the same word for close to
women. At this juncture the celebrant has two thousand years, if not more. Groupings
3
completed a full sixty-year cycle based on the of one hundred or 120 shou characters in
twelve zodiac animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, various forms are commonly referred to as
dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, ‘one hundred long life character images’

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