Chinese porcelain dish in underglaze cobalt blue (qinghua), back with a six-character mark “Beautiful vessel for the rich and honourable brought by the Tianlu”, Shunzhi.

Chinese porcelain saucer-dish decorated in underglaze cobalt blue (qinghua), back with the very rare six-character mark “Beautiful vessel for the rich and honourable brought by the Tianlu” and the foot unusually decorated with one of the eight borders used in this period, c. 1650, Shunzhi (1644/61) reign, Qing dynasty, d. 19 cm, 7½ in. 1-20386 Bespoke box.

Literature:

• Handbook of Marks of Chinese Ceramics, by G. Davidson, 2010, no. 2567;

• Shunzhi Porcelain, by M. Butler, J.B. Curtis and S. Little, 2002 catalogue Art Services International, Alexandria, VA, USA, p. 19, fig. 5 for two blue glazed plates with six-character mark Shunzhi and of the period, and pp.158/9 for a blue glazed censer.

Translator’s note: There are two different types of Pixiu, a male and a female. Tianlu, the male of the species, has one antler and is in charge of wealth. Tianlu is said to go out into the world in search of gold and other forms of wealth and, bringing it home to its Master, the female (with two antlers), which is called Bixie, is then said to hold onto it, guarding it within the home of the Master. Displaying Tianlu at home or in the office is said to prevent wealth from flowing away.

非常罕見和精美的青花瓷盤，繪有植物、花卉和兩隻孔雀，器底書「天祿富貴佳器」六字款，17世紀末，清康熙，直徑19厘米，7½英寸。

參考文獻：

• 器底「天祿富貴佳器」六字款可見於G. Davison著的《中國陶瓷落款手冊》中的第2567款。

• 《順治瓷器》，作者M. Butler、J.B. Curtis及S. Little，2002年美國弗吉尼亞州亞歷山大市國際藝術服務公司目錄，參見第19頁圖5兩個器底書順治六字款的藍釉盤，以及第158頁圖9藍釉香爐。

譯者註：貔貅又名天祿，因此與落款「天祿富貴佳器」相符。貔貅有公母獸。公獸名天祿，有獨角，主財運。據傳公獸會喜歡到處尋找財富，並且把這些財富帶回去給主人。母獸名辟邪，有雙角，主財庫，守護主人的財富。據傳在家里或辦公室擺放天祿辟邪，可以防止財富流走。