Ref: U607
Archive item - not for sale
Chinese rouge-de-fer and gilt ‘boy and buffalo’ mug, Yongzheng, circa 1730, with late 19th Century continental silver metal hinged cover, painted in underglaze red, sepia and gilt, depicting a boy riding a buffalo with a kite, and another buffalo following behind, set in a landscape with trees and flowers issuing from rockwork, the foot with narrow red bands and the rim with flowerhead cartouches against a diaper band; Height: 6 ¼ in. (15.6 cm.); condition: wear to silver mount. Provenance: from the collection of the Hon. Olivia Vernon Mulholland (1902-1984), who held the office of Woman of the Bedchamber to HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Literature: A similar example was included in the exhibition Ch'ing Porcelain from the Wah Kwong Collection, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1973, no. 47. Pictures of young boys riding water buffalos usually have Buddhist overtones. The motif of a youth herding a water buffalo often alludes to the Ten Ox-herding Songs, representing different stages towards enlightenment. The water buffalo was also revered in China for its patience and strength, and was seen as the mount of Laozi, the founder of Daoism. SOLD
