Dou cai (contrasting colors) double-gourd bottle

This is a dou cai* (contrasting colors) double-gourd bottle with a small outward-turning mouthrim, two chilong (chi dragon, namely a dragon with two tails and without an antler) shaped handles connecting the upper bulb with the lower bulb, and a footring. The origin of the double-gourd bottle can be traced back to the pottery gourd bottle from the Banpo site of the Yangshao culture, to the Shijia culture and to the polychrome bottles made in the Tang dynasty. The double-gourd is associated with Li Tieguai, one of the Eight Immortals. According to legend, the gourd contains more than five blessings (long life, wealth, health, love of virtue and a natural death). Therefore, the double-gourd shaped bottle is an auspicious symbol in China, usually associated with a wish for a long life and many sons. Each of the two dragon-shaped handles represents a three-clawed chi dragon with an underglaze blue body, an overglaze pink head and an overglaze green beard. Both dragons are shown looking up while mounting on the bottle, with their mouths open and fangs exposed. The chi dragon is believed to be an auspicious mythical creature that can exorcize evils and provide protection from disasters. The Qianlong emperor in particular adored the chi dragon design and considered it as xi (happiness). From that point on, designs that resembled both the chi dragon and the imperial dragon frequently appeared on imperial objects. Overall this dou cai double-gourd bottle is exquisitely adorned with moulded appliqué decorations against a yellowish green background of continuously incised rosette diagrams. The upper bulb, gradually tapering to the mouth, is adorned with two registers of moulded appliqué decorations on both sides. The first register represents two pink rosette scrolls, one on each side. Below them are two medallions representing a dragon with double antlers and three (the other has four) claws among flames, clouds and a pearl. The two dragons are posed in an echoing position. Their eyes and tongues are movable. The pearl is movable, too. Both dragons are rendered in underglaze blue except their beard is in overglaze green. The lower bulb displays more delicately moulded appliqué decorations. It shows two big medallions of moulded appliqué shuang long xi zhu wen (two-dragons-fighting-over-a-pearl design) as primary motifs and incised man cao wen (coiling vine and leaves design) as supplementary motifs. The shuang long xi zhu wen first appeared on Yue ware vessels of the Five Dynasties (907-960) and is often seen on Ming and Qing official wares. It is usually emblematic of good fortune and a good harvest year. Each medallion is surrounded by four of the Eight Daoist Emblems*. In each medallion one dragon with double antlers and five claws is in overglaze green except for its overglaze pink beard; the other dragon, however, with double antlers and four claws is in overglaze pink except for its overglaze green beard. The pearl, the dragons' eyes and tongues are also movable just like those on the upper bulb. Generally speaking, the shape of all the moulded dragon appliqués is after the Kangxi model (1662-1722), but their luxuriant decorative style is characteristic of the Qianlong reign (1736-1795). This dou cai double-gourd bottle is excellently preserved, except that three appliqué clouds on one side of the lower bulb and one appliqué cloud on the other side seem to have been repaired. They are now re-painted in a dark green pigment that was not glazed. It has been placed in a blue carton box with a red paper label which reads "qianlong sancai jiduan jiamei zhi ciping" (an extremely exquisite three-color porcelain bottle during the Qianlong Reign). On the base of the footring there is also a Qianlong seal mark "da qing qianlong nian zhi" meaning "Made during the Qianlong Reign of the Great Qing" in three columns and in overglaze green. The dragon is one of the most important and complex of mythical animals in China. It ranks first of the "Four Supernatural Spirits", the phoenix being the second, the lin (unicorn) third and the tortoise fourth. A great variety of dragons are portrayed in Chinese art, often chasing a pearl and almost always surrounded by flames. Although its appearance always looks ferocious, it is the most benevolent of creatures. It was the god of rain, who brought thunder, lightning, rain and thus, fertility and abundance to the land. The dragon also represents the male principle of nature (yang), symbolic of vigor and fertility. In the early period it was worshiped by the Chinese as one of the four beasts of good augury. Later on it became one of the symbolic animals of the Four Directions. It stands for the east, which is associated with the sunrise, fertility, and spring rain. Its counterpart is the white tiger of the west, the land of the underworld. The other two animals of the Four Directions are the bird of the south, and the snake and turtle of the north. In certain manifestations, the dragon exclusively represented the emperor who sat on the dragon throne and was borne aloft by dragons when he died. Since the Han dynasty, the five-clawed dragon has been the symbol of the emperor. During the Qing dynasty, vessels with dragon designs were exclusively owned by the imperial families and higher officials who had special authorization from the emperor. According to the Yuanshi fuzhi (History of the Yuan Dynasty Records of the Costumes), "shangjiao wuzhua longwen chenshu bude shiyong" (subjects and the ordinary people cannot be allowed to use dragon designs with double antlers and five claws). The restraint lasted until the end of the Qing period. Therefore, this double-gourd bottle may have been an imperial vessel once exclusively used by the Qianlong Emperor because it is primarily adorned with exquisite dragon motifs including double-antlered and five-clawed dragons symbolic of the emperor. *This term, in its broad sense, refers to a painted decoration combining the underglaze blue and overglaze polychrome. The tem dou cai first occurred in Nan Yao Bi Ji (Notes on the Southern Wares, 1730s-40s). It has been suggested that a term used in the Ming dynasty 'qing hua jian zhuang wu cai' (overglaze decoration complemented by underglaze blue) referred to the same technique. During the Xuande reign of the Ming dynasty, the underglaze blue was combined with the overglaze five-colors to form a design. However, strictly speaking, dou cai was invented in the Chenghua reign when part of the design was drawn in underglaze blue on the body. After the vessel was coated with a layer of transparent glaze and fired, the overglaze pigments were added to complete the design. Dou cai wares continued to flourish during the Jiajing and Wanli reigns of the Ming dynasty and continued into the Kangxi reign of the Qing. The enamels on the fen cai (famille rose) palette were used in the dou cai decoration during the Yongzheng reign. * The Eight Daoist Emblems depict only the emblems of the Eight Daoist Immortals and not the immortals themselves. Each symbol is associated with an individual immortal: the fan with Zhong Liquan, the bamboo drum with Zhang Guolao, the flute with Han Xiangzi, the double gourd with Li Tieguai, the castanets with Cao Guojiu, the sword with Lü Dongbin, the flower basket with Lan Caihe, and the lotus with He Xiangu. This set of designs became popular after the appearance of the Eight Immortals as a decorative theme, and was in vogue during the Qing dynasty