Decorated to the exterior and to the interior with iron-red and gilt or en grisaille goldfish swimming amongst gilt water-weed.
A Chinese famille rose “goldfish” bowl. Yongzheng period
COUNTRY : China
PERIOD : Yongzheng (1723-1735)
MATIERIAL : Porcelain
SIZE : 7.08 in. (18 cm)
REFERENCE : C846
STATUT : sold
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Further information
The goldfish, a descendant of the carp, is native to Southeast China. The characters for goldfish (jinyu) convey the idea of “gold” (jin) and “jade” (yu), two indications of wealth. In addition, yu for “fish” is also a homophone for “surplus”. When the goldfish are depicted in a pond (tang), as on this bowl, the meaning becomes “May gold and jade fill your house” (jinyu mantang) or in other words “May you have a prosperous household”.
