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Five-colored
Mandarin Duck Vase with Lotus Design
It is a piece of furnishing used
in the royal court. It has a garlic-shaped straight mouth, a long
neck, a round belly and a short ring foot. The edge of the mouth
is engraved with " made in the years of Wan Li in the Ming
Dynasty" in a blue-and-white regular script style. The shape
of this vase comes from a kind of garlic-shaped kettle that is used
before the Han Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, this kind of kettle
has been produced and it becomes more and more popular in the years
of Wan Li in the Ming Dynasty. The whole body is decorated with
five colors, such as red, yellow, green, brown, purple and many
other colors. There is scepter border engraved on the mouth with
winding flowers on the inner part and the tassel pattern on the
outer surface. There are cave stones, butterflies, dragonflies and
chrysanthemum designs engraved on the neck. The design that three
pairs of mandarin ducks are swimming in a lotus-pond is decorated
on the belly. At all around, there are blooming lotus flowers, duckweeds,
reeds and sparrows serving as a foil. The three pairs of mandarin
ducks are vivid in form, natural in creation and rich in color.
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