A rare and large famille rose relief-decorated 'Spring festival' vase
Jiaqing
The vase moulded and enamelled in rich shades of famille rose, green, blue, yellow and iron-red with a continuous scene depicting ladies at leisure, variously boating down a river while companions watch from over an arched bridge beneath bright prunus blossom, beside a pavilion built over the water in which ladies practise calligraphy leading onto a terrace where more ladies converse, play weiqi, practise divination from a yinyang symbol and play musical instruments, while on another terrace ladies gather in view of a single pink-robed man dangling a fly-whisk as a brightly-plumaged phoenix flies above wutong and willow trees, all between ruyi heads at the foot and rim. 84.6cm (33¼in) high
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