Description
Description: Chinese porcelain small brush pot decorated in susancai palette on incised biscuit body. The decoration is representing Kui Xing, the God of Examinations, under the Kuei constellation and riding a dragon among the Yellow River waves.
Dating: Second part of 19th century.
Size: 12.9 cm high
Provenance: Antiquarian market
References: Because of the relation of the subject with literature, this motif if often found on Chinese bitongs.
Notes: Originating as a Daoist deity associated with the constellation Ursa Major, Kui Xing (an associate to the God of Literature Wen Chang Dijun) is worshipped in the third and eighth months as the God of Examinations and patron saint of scholars. The surly-looking divinity is represented holding a brush in his right hand while standing on the head of a large fish becoming a dragon. The transformation of a carp into a dragon was a synonym for the literary success of an industrious student.
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