Fish Bowl
Original Language Title清 五彩魚瓷缸
CultureChinese
DateKangxi period (1662-1722)
MediumPorcelain with five-color enamel decoration (famille verte)
DimensionsOverall: 11 1/2 × 21 5/8 inches (29.21 × 54.93 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number55-106
On View
Not on viewCollections
Gallery LabelThis bowl has many secrets. The enamel decoration of egrets in a lotus pond communicates two messages through the use of homonyms (words that sound alike): egret (lu 鷺) and lotus (lian 蓮). The first message, lu lu lian ke 路路連科, sends positive wishes to a candidate about to pass his imperial examinations. This is similar to wishing a student a promising career after graduation.
The second message, lu lu qing lian 路路清廉, contains the wish that an official be honorable throughout his career. Here, the egrets stand in the muddy lotus pond, but they breathe the pure air emitted from the lotus flower, and their feathers remain as white and pure as an official with a clean record.
With C. T. Loo Chinese Art, New York, by December 1955;
Purchased from C. T. Loo Chinese Art by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1955.
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