Red underglaze porcelain prunus vase with design of pine, bamboo and plum
Among 420 thousand collections in the Nanjing Museum, half are porcelains. Porcelain prunus vases were prevailed in the Yuan and Ming dynasty, and this Red underglaze porcelain prunus vase is the only intact one with a lid made in Hongwu period, and then added to first-class national cultural relics in 1993.
In the March of 1957, a tomb of the Ming dynasty was discovered on the hill locally named as “Niangniang Cemetery” in Jiangning county, and 47 relics were excavated, and this prunus vase was one of them. This prunus vase is an official’s kiln porcelain, and was buried with its owner as his favorite before his death, and also as the symbol of a distinguished social status.
The vase is 41.7 cm high, with elegant figure and intactness. On it painted pine, bamboo and plum, which were frequently used patterns in the Yuan Dynasty, symbolizing high-minded ambition. Maybe it is because of the pursuing of balance, a kind of banana was added into painting during Hongwu period, and this practice lasted two dynasties till the Qing. This one was not an exception.
Portrait bricks “Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and Rong Qiqi”
Portrait bricks “Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and Rong Qiqi” in the Nanjing Museum is the earliest figure painting during Wei and Jin discovered up till now, and also the earliest one of group painting of Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.
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