A RARE AND IMPORTANT PAIR OF FAMILLE-VERTE MEIPING QING DYNASTY, DATED XINSI YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1701 |

each superbly potted with a well-proportioned rounded shoulder tapering to a low, splayed base and surmounted by a short waisted neck with a gently flaring rim, the baluster body vibrantly enameled with similar scenes of scholars paying homage, in one a kneeling scholar presents credentials near a court attendant reading from a scroll, all observed by further scholars, attendants and guards; the other portraying two red-bearded foreigners showing deference, one presenting a jue, the other a boot, both within a lavish interior cleverly outlined by a voluminous drapery swag swept back to one side and the strong diagonal lines of the tiled roof to the other, the reverse with vertical rockwork of varying greens and tall leafy trees, all set between a band of striding chilong on a fish-roe ground and a chevron band around the rim, and florets on a pale green stippled ground over a narrow border of overlapping petals encircling the foot, the base inscribed xinsi nian zhi in underglaze blue (2), coll. nos 580, 581