I.53a
Seeking Plum Blossom

Famille rose enamels on copper; with a flat lip, flat foot, and flat foot rim; painted with a continuous winter scene of a man, probably Meng Haoran 孟浩然, holding a staff, an attendant following him carrying his qin 琴as he walks off a long plank bridge towards a man fishing from a small boat, his attendant behind him holding his creel, with a dwelling beyond and nearby grasses, beneath a band of formalized flower heads and lingzhi; the foot inscribed in regular script Qianlong nian zhi 乾隆年製 (‘Made in the Qianlong era’); the exterior exposed metal surfaces originally gilt, the interior patchily covered with white enamel
Probably palace workshops, Beijing, 1780 – 1799
Height: 5.13 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.70/1.48 cm
Stopper: gilt bronze chased with a formalized floral design

Provenance:
Mrs Pattison, China, 1930s or 1940s
Nancy McCarthy (her daughter), by descent, 1971
Robert Kleiner, August 2013