Vase

The vase is complete. The vase is octagonal. It is shaped like an inverted baluster, with a rounded shoulder topped by a short circular neck. The lower part of the wall is narrowed and flares out into a massive base. The perimeter of the base is concave. The base has a narrow fulcrum, which has lost some of its glaze; the bottom is recessed and flat. The decoration is molded and hand-painted in polychrome cobalt blue underglaze, and red and green overglaze. The motif is an oriental animal, with a bird. The molded decoration affects the shape of the vase, which has eight vertical sides adorned with vertical flutes, and domed corners. The painted decoration covers the entire surface of the vase, from neck to base. The neck is decorated with a row of dashes painted red and two superimposed fillets painted blue. From these fillets hang a row of alternating tabs of two motifs in blue; one series is painted green, while the other features a red-painted fork. The main decoration covers a portion of the shoulder and the wall, and consists of two alternately repeated motifs. One motif consists of a bird seen in profile to the left, outlined in blue and red and painted in red, blue and green, standing on flowers emerging from leafy stems and a rock with a hole in it, symbolizing the Chinese philosophy of Taoism, painted in blue. The other motif is similar, but without the bird. The shoulder is adorned with two alternating motifs: a long, leafy, flowering stem and a bird flying in profile to the right. The lower part of the vase features two alternating motifs: a palmette and an oval. The palmette is traced and painted red, with a central flower traced and painted red, surrounded by leaves traced and painted green. The oval is outlined in blue, with leafy stems and flowers, and bordered by two long vertical leaves outlined in blue and painted green. The base decoration rests on a double fillet painted red. From this fillet hangs a row of half-ovals of two alternately repeated types: one is outlined and painted in blue, while the other is outlined in red.