Page 223 - China's Renaissance in Bronze, The Robert H.CIague Collection of Later Chinese Bronzes 1100-1900

HIS DOUBLE VASE WAS CAST in the form of two leaping carp, the
arc at the base a reference to the rolling waves from which they
T emerge. Pressed belly to belly, the fish appear in profile, one larger,
one smaller. The fish have smooth-skinned faces with large circular eyes
and long whiskers that extend the line of the upper lip. An arched band
separates the heads from the bodies, which display large, overlapping
scales. Both the short ventral fins and the long dorsal ones are striated, as
are the tails. A low-relief grid pattern, reminiscent of those on some antique
bronze vessels, ornaments the flat, countersunk base. Visible especially in
the hollows, a grayish brown coating partially covers the surface. Thick
walled and very heavy, this vase was integrally cast, though the striations
on the fins and tails show traces of cold finishing. 1
The fish is one of the most enduring motifs in Chinese art, appearing
on Neolithic painted pots and Shang bronzes. A symbol of rank and power
in early times, it later came to symbolize abundance both because fish are
plentiful and because the words for 'fish' and 'abundance' are homonyms in
Mandarin Chinese, both pronounced yu. As the fish can swim in any direc-
tion, it also signifies freedom from restraint. The pairing of fish and water is
a rebus, or visual pun, for yushui hexie, 'May you be as compatible as fish and
water,' a reference to marital harmony and, by extension, to fecundity. 2 One
of the bajixiang, or Eight Auspicious Emblems [20 and 22], the double fish
motif appeared frequently in Chinese decorative arts after its introduction
3
in the Yuan. Although leaping carp also represent young scholars [see
57], this pair more likely refers to marital and familial relationships, the
hierarchically arranged fish symbolizing husband and wife or mother and
4
child. Such vases were popular as wedding gifts during the Qing.
An innovation of the late Tang, vases in the form of two leaping fish
appeared in a variety of ceramic wares in the ninth century and remained
5
popular into the Northern Song. The vessel type seldom appears in the Yuan
and Ming, but it recurred in the Kangxi era when potters and metalsmiths
not only revived a number of Tang forms [34] but began to experiment with
paired objects [40].
As representatives of the Kangxi style, these carp compare favorably
with contemporaneous ones in glazed porcelain 6 and their smooth heads
correspond to those of Kangxi-era haishou [21]. Reflecting the archaism of
the day, carp vases from the Yongzheng period exhibit fidelity to their Tang
models; 7 Qianlong carp vessels favor the dramatic, typically showing the
carp with a dragon's head [57].

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T H E R O B E R T II. C L A G U E C O L L E C T I O N