A blue and white baluster vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi (1662-1722).

D & M Freedman Limited, London.

Roy Davids Collection, No 72, acquired 3 November 2005.

The Avalon Collection Part II.

This collection, which in the main focuses on the Interregnum and Kangxi periods has been both carefully and sensitively formed over the last twenty-five years. The collector, a member of the English Oriental Ceramic Society, has assembled the collection with an eye for provenance whilst purchasing from old European collections, well-established antique dealers and at auction.

Academically, the pieces have been well researched both in terms of their symbolism and narrative themes. In many instances the imagery on the pieces has been referenced to episodes in the romantic and historic novels of Chinese mythology, which were used extensively in the decoration of seventeenth century Chinese porcelain.

The same scene can be seen on a vase in “ Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties”, Page 150 – 151, No 161.

The scene depicts the poet Pan Yue (247 – 300 AD) whose name in Chinese became a byword for handsome men. The “Book of Jin” states than Pan was so handsome that women surrounded him whenever he went out for an excursion, throwing gifts of fans, scarfs and fruits. Here the women crane from balconies and doorways to catch a glimpse of the handsome poet, who is inaccessible to them.