A YIXING ‘RAT AND PEANUT’ WATERPOT, REPUBLIC PERIOD
China, 1912-1949. The hollowed stoneware vessel finely modeled in the form of a giant peanut shell with a rat perched atop nibbling at the opening, the rodent naturalistically carved with neatly incised fur, a long thin tail, beady eyes, and alert funnel-shaped ears, the peanut realistically textured. One side of the peanut impressed with a square seal mark.


Inscriptions:
To one side below the rat, ‘Chen Mingyuan’.


Provenance
: French trade.

Condition
: Excellent condition with minor wear and firing irregularities, occasional light scratches.

Weight: 418.8 g
Dimensions: Length 16.3 cm


The rat
(laoshu) is one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. It symbolizes fertility, abundance, and wealth because of its reproductive abilities. The peanut (huasheng) is an auspicious symbol because its second character (sheng) means to ‘give birth’. The peanut thus symbolizes the wish for many children.


Literature comparison:

Compare a related model of a basket of similarly realistically rendered nuts and seeds, 11.5 cm long, in the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession number FE.19-1983.




民國宜興老鼠偷花生水盂

中國，1912 年至 1949 年。 鏤空炻器，塑造一個大花生的形狀，一隻老鼠趴在花生上面，似乎在啃咬。老鼠毛皮雕刻整齊，尾巴細長，圓圓的眼睛，耳朵警惕地竪起，栩栩如生。花生殼的紋理質感逼真。花生的一側刻有方形印章。


款識：
陳明遠


來源：
法國古玩交易。

品相：
狀況良好，有輕微磨損和燒製不規則，輕微劃痕。

重量：418.8 克
尺寸：長 16.3 厘米


文獻比較：

比較一件相近的宜興窯一籃仿花生和種子，長11.5厘米，收藏於維多利亞和亞伯特博物館，館藏編號FE.19-1983。