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Baluster Vase Decorated with the Six of the Eight Immortals - Image 1
Baluster Vase Decorated with the Six of the Eight Immortals - Image 2
Baluster Vase Decorated with the Six of the Eight Immortals - Image 3
Baluster Vase Decorated with the Six of the Eight Immortals - Image 4
Baluster Vase Decorated with the Six of the Eight Immortals - Image 5
Public Domain

Jingdezhen kilns

Baluster Vase Decorated with the Six of the Eight Immortals

1667-1699

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Jingdezhen kilns

Baluster Vase Decorated with the Six of the Eight Immortals

1667-1699

Physical Qualities Porcelain with underglaze cobalt decoration, 10 1/8 H x 9 Diam. in. (25.7 x 22.9 cm.)
Credit Line Gift of Lawrason Riggs of J
Object Number 1945.59.35
The Eight Immortals are Daoists who attained everlasting life. Zhongli Quan (at lower left), a Han Dynasty general, usually carries a feather fan he uses to revive the dead. Lu Dongbin, known for drinking and fighting, carries a sword or flywhisk, which gives him the power to fly. Zhang Guolao carries a bamboo drum and two drumsticks, while Li Tieguai (shown at center) is a crippled beggar with an iron crutch and a gourd containing a magic elixir. He Xiangu (at lower right), the patron of household management known for her filial devotion, holds a ladle, lotus, or peach. Cao Guojiu carries castenets which represent the tablets required for admission to the imperial court. Not shown on the body of the jar, Han Xiangzi, the patron of fortunetellers, a youth who carries a flute and predicts the future, and Lan Caihe who carries a basket of flowers or fruit would have appeared on the jar's cover (now missing).
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1945; Lawrason Riggs of J, Baltimore; from his uncle, General Lawrason Riggs, Baltimore (1861-1940)
Frances Klapthor, Chinese Ceramics, Baltimore: BMA, 1993, no. 99, p. 56.

Inscribed: Period underglaze double circle mark on bottom.

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