Porcelain vase ‘Qilin and Sage’, Minguo period

Made of modelled porcelain covered with ‘pink family’ enamels, overglaze and underglaze. It has a slender body with broad rounded shoulders and a small neck ending in a subtly flared mouth. It is adorned with a scene of a sage with a bushy beard, dressed in long traditional robes, holding a small child on his shoulders. Both seem to be fleeing from a ‘Qilin’, a mythological animal that chases them with a fierce expression and sharp claws clawing through the sky. Next to this is a short poem accompanied by three seals. On the base is a four-character seal in underglaze blue ‘乾隆年制’.

Height: 20 cm; Diameter: 12 cm (approx.)