A famille-verte 'immortals' jar and cover, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 五彩凡帝訪月圖蓋罐

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 15th-16th November 1988, lot 228.

香港蘇富比1988年11月15至16日，編號228

Delicately painted and vibrantly enameled, the present jar depicts a joyous scene in a celestial courtyard where five ladies stand within the balustrade to greet the three male visitors arriving on clouds. While other figures hold fans, brocade, flabellum, vase and osmanthus sprigs respectively, one of the ladies cradles a rabbit in her arms, imbuing the scene with endearing vitality. It is likely a depiction of Emperor Xuanzong’s fabled journey to the Moon Palace, as can be associated with by the appearance of a rabbit (probably the Jade Rabbit of the Moon Goddess) and osmanthus. Compare a related jar of Kangxi mark and period, depicting six officials greeting a seated dignitary and a lady in like manner in an open courtyard amongst verdure, rockeries and cloud scrolls, sold first in our Hong Kong rooms, 29th October 2001, lot 507, then entering the Yidetang Collection, and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 12th October 2021, lot 13.

Complementing with the narrative, the cover of the jar bears a Daoist immortal sitting on a qilin with a ruyi sceptre in one hand. This auspicious combination is usually seen on famille-verte porcelains, yet unusual to find on a cover. For an example of a Daoist immortal similarly attired in a coral red robe and riding a qilin with green scales, see a famille-verte ovoid jar, sold in our London rooms, 17th June 1998, lot 386, and again at Christie's New York, 21st September 2004, lot 6573. The propitious Daoist connotation is further underscored where four of the Eight Daoist Emblems are reserved on a diaper band to the shoulders of the jar, seen on a similar piece sold at Christie's New York, 1st June 1990, lot 302.