A Blue and White Famille Rose Rouleau Bottle Vase, Republican Period

China, Republican Period
Dimensions: 11″ (27.94cm) H

Porcelain vase with underglaze cobalt blue painting and overglaze multicolored scene of the goddess of longevity, Magu, carrying a flower basket and wearing long flowing robes accompanied by a deer. QIANLONG MARK at the bottom.

Magu is portrayed in a characteristic manner: she is a young woman with claw-like fingernails, wearing an apron, and carrying a hemp-woven basket of peony flowers, with a container of fungus wine in the shape of a double peach vessel. The materials and foods carried by Magu are believed to promote a long life. In addition, her association with the hemp plant ma (Cannabis sativa) further enhances her ties to immortality: every part of the hemp plant has been used in medicine since ancient times, especially its seeds which were believed to firm the flesh and prevent old age.

民國 青花粉彩麻姑獻壽棒槌瓶 大清乾隆年制款