207 - BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAINE VASE CHINA

BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAINE VASE CHINA Dimensions: Height 32,5 cm Wide 19 cm Depth 19 cm Weight: 1516 grams A tall Chinese blue-and-white porcelain vase with a full pear-shaped body rising into a long, slightly flaring neck. The decoration is painted in underglaze cobalt blue against a creamy white porcelain ground and unfolds freely across the surface rather than being confined to rigid panels. Pine branches, bamboo and flowering plum grow between pierced scholar's rocks, while scrolling borders, floral bands and upright leaf motifs articulate the shoulder and neck. The brushwork varies from pale, watery washes to darker outlines and accents, giving the design a lively, hand-painted character. The combination of pine, bamboo and plum is one of the most enduring themes in Chinese art. Known collectively as the Three Friends of Winter, the three plants were admired because they retain or reveal their vitality through the cold season: pine remains evergreen, bamboo bends without breaking, and plum blossoms before spring has fully arrived. They came to embody resilience, constancy and renewal, which makes the botanical decoration more than a purely ornamental garden scene. Blue-and-white porcelain became one of the great signatures of Chinese ceramic art because so much could be achieved with a deliberately restricted palette. Here the painter uses the cobalt almost like ink, building rocks, stems, needles and blossoms through changes in pressure and density. The elegant bottle form, the broad white reserves and the freely painted plant motifs give the vase a distinctly pictorial quality, combining the appeal of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain with the symbolism of traditional scholar culture.