A massive famille verte Yenyen vase, Kangxi period, 1662-1722 AD, China

The vase is dynamically painted with scenes of an epic - the neck showing an infant king being held up by a retainer and presented to a laughing Shoulao, the God of Longevity, in a garden setting. The upper segment of the baluster body shows the young king in court robes surrounded by military and civilian advisers; the middle section depicts a general in full armour on horseback - pursued by a band of warriors and a demon wielding a pair of clubs, in a rocky landscape.

Height: 76.6cm

Compare a vase from the Widener Collection - similarly painted with battle scenes and probably illustrating the 14th century novel ‘Shui Hu Zhuan’ (The Water Margin) by Shi Nai’an - illustrated in the Systematic Catalogue of The Collections of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., ‘Decorative Arts, part 11’, Washington, 1998 - page 221.