Page 114 - J. P Morgan Collection of Chinese Art and Porcelain

CASE f] the morgan COLLECTION

4,5. TWO OVOID VASES with covers. The Tao-

ist divinity figured on these two vases is Hua-Hsien,

the goddess of flowers, who carries a basket of flowers

on the handle of a hoe, and is accompanied by a female
attendant with a vase of flowers and a boy with books,
while two storks follow behind. The same personage,
by the way, seems to be represented on the semi-egg-
shell ovoid vase (No. 11) in Case C, traveling through
the cosmic sea in a rustic boat, although perhaps Hsi

Wang Mu is intended in this case.

Seal mark of Chi'en-lung (1736-1795).

Height io>2 inches.

(plate xliii)

6. WHITE EGG-SHELL BOWL with scalloped

lip. In the disk inside is a chouan mark of the reign

of Yung-lo (1403-1424), and modelled in the paste

throughout, but visible only in direct sunlight, are

beautifully drawn dragons disporting in the firmament

amid cloud-forms and emblems. The paste is trans-

lucent and of exquisite fineness. {See introductory

notes.) Diameter 8 inches.

7. ROSE-BACKED EIGHT-BORDERED SAUCER.

Decoration: Two ladies and three children with vases,

emblems, flowers and fruit. Eight reserves of lotus

and peonies alternating with water dragons between

bands of green. 8XDiameter inches.
Ch'ien-lung (1736-1795).

8. 9. TWO GLOBULAR BOTTLES. Two wide-

necked bottle-shaped vases brilliantly decorated in
shaded greens with red and gold and touches of black.
The theme is again that of the fish persevering till

it surmounts the rapids of the Yellow River at the Lung
Men, or Dragon Gate, and ipso facto becomes transform-
ed into an aerial dragon. The fish, a red and gold carp,

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