Description
A pair of rare Chinese famille rose, yellow ground revolving vases four character Qianlong seal marks but c.1900, the bodies, each with two revolving sections finely painted with the twelve Celestial Stems above the junction, and the twelve Terrestrial Branches below, with scrolling lotus and shou characters, the outer casing with ruyi heads, the interiors with a turquoise glaze and the foot rim with a key fret, 18.6cm. (2)
Provenance: the property of an English Lord.
By rotating the revolving sections, the Celestial Stems and Terrestrial Branches can be aligned to allow the formation of the names for the whole sixty year cycle. A brush pot of this type can be seen in The National Palace Museum, Taipei.
