"Poets in the Garden" Blue and White Phoenix Tail Vase

One of the primary functions of the Chinese garden was to provide a setting for literary gatherings, places where poets and scholars convened with nature and commemorated the affair with poetry. Freely brushed in cobalt blue on white porcelain, this delightful vase depicts a scholar and his attendants in a garden. The artist’s deft hand animates the figures, capturing the sway of the scholar caught in a breeze and the impish grins of the attending boys. The spill of peaches at their feet suggests the bounty of the season and extends a wish of longevity.