Beschreibung:

A RARE PAIR OF WUCAI 'TANG EMPEROR VISITS THE MOON PALACE' JARS AND COVERS, GUANShunzhi
Each of elegant baluster shape, decorated around the exteriors in vibrant enamels with continuous scenes of noble ladies, attendants, musicians and noblemen in palatial settings with balustrades and gnarled pine trees amidst wispy clouds, Chang E carrying a hare, all beneath bands of flowers on the shoulders, the slightly domed cylindrical covers decorated with three boys playing in a rocky fenced garden, the sides with further rocks and floral sprays. 33.5cm (13 1/4in) high. (4).Footnotes清順治 五彩「唐明皇夜遊月宮圖」蓋罐一對
Provenance: Elizabeth Crompton, 1830 (old label)
S.Marchant & Son, London, 1 November 2008
來源：Elizabeth Crompton，1830年（據老籤）
倫敦古董商S.Marchant & Son，2008年11月1日
The scenes on the present lot are from the popular drama 'The Tang Emperor Visits the Moon Palace' based on the Tang poem by Bai Juyi (772-846), 'Song of Eternal regret'. The Tang Emperor Minghuang (685-762) was infatuated by his concubine Yang Guifei (719-756), so much so that affairs of state were being neglected leading to the An Lushan rebellion of 755. The Emperor and his concubine were forced to flee the capital, but on the road, the Emperor's own bodyguard, blaming her for the rebellion, forced the Emperor to order her suicide:
君王掩面救不得，回看血淚相和流。
His Majesty covered his face, for he could not save her. Looking back, he saw a stream of blood and tears mixing together
The Emperor grieved for a long time afterwards until a Daoist priest felt pity for the Emperor and decided to use his powers to search for the spirit of Yang Guifei. In the 17th century drama, The Emperor and Concubine are reunited in Chang E's moon palace, underscored in the present lot by the presence of the hare, which pounds the elixir of Immortality on the moon.
See a wucai vase, circa 1650-1660, with similar decoration, illustrated by M.Butler et al, Shunzhi Porcelain: Treasures from an Unknown Reign, Alexandria, 2002, p.207. The story is also recounted by J.B.Curtis, Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century: Landscapes, Scholars' Motifs and Narratives, New York, 1995, p.112. Compare also with a related wucai jar, 1645-1660, illustrated by C.J.A.Jorg, Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: The Ming and Qing Dynasties, London, 1997, p.84, no.75. See also a related pair of wucai jars and covers, 1650-1670, in the Royal Collection Trust (acc.no.RCIN 35286).
See also one wucai jar and cover, Shunzhi, which was sold at Bonhams London, 3 November 2022, lot 23.