Hot milk jug

The pot is complete, except for a small chip on the rim, and a break has been repaired with glue and plaster. It is circular in shape. In cross-section, it is pear-shaped. It has a bulging wall, a drooping shoulder and a slightly constricted neck at the straight top, which is fitted with a small triangular pouring spout. The inner wall of the rim is free of glaze. The lower part of the rim curves towards the bottom, resting on a conical pedestal with a plain outline. The handle is vertical, oval in cross-section and curved in an arc. Its upper section is linked to the neck, while its lower end is folded down to rest on the wall. The underside of the foot is recessed and flat, and its support point is free of glaze; the decoration covers the outside of the pot, the neck, the foot and the handle. The decoration is of the Imari plant type. It is hand-painted in two-tone blue underglaze, then traced and painted in iron red, with gold highlights, over glaze. The braid under the outer rim is outlined in blue with a fillet. It is composed of two alternately repeated elements. One element is a plant motif painted red and outlined in gold, set between two curved lines outlined in blue. The second element is a double spiked latticework in blue. On the wall opposite the cove, the decoration rests on a blue-painted net at the base of the wall. It features a large rock with a hole in it, symbolizing the Chinese philosophy of Taoism, drawn and painted in blue with gold highlights. Behind the boulder rise two bamboo stalks, traced and painted red with gold, and terminated by suite leaves. Leafy, flowering stems line the rock. The stems are traced and painted blue with gilding; the flowers and other leaves are traced and painted red, sometimes with gilding, and some also have veins, and a large flower bud is painted blue with gilding. The handle is adorned with a leafy stem traced in blue and surmounted by a blue flower. The wall on either side of the handle features a leaf painted blue with gold veins. A red fillet has been traced on the pedestal, supporting a row of Ruyi heads traced in red.