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Bottle of compressed globular shape, the tall, flared neck with a bulb. On the sides in a landscape with a banana tree and a willow tree a servant carrying an arrow vase with three arrows towards a group of three officials and their servants. The shoulder with a flower scroll, the bulb with a lotus scroll, above and below tulip motifs and emblems.
The subject matter refers to the game of touhu, whereby the players had to throw an arrow into the tubular neck of a vase. At each miss they were forced to drink. The rules were written in the Li Ji, the Book of Rites. The game was widespread in the Ming dynasty, with the aristocracy and the elite of the scholars and merchants practising it. The painting is done in various shades of a clear blue, creating volume and depth. Following Transitional painting style the scene is closed by a band of clouds. The shape of the vase may be inspired by 15th century Iznik examples. These vases were apparently only made for about ten years in the Chongzhen reign. Two vases of the same shape and an a similar decoration with fewer figures are in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Another one, again involving fewer figures and a different decoration on the bulb is in the British Museum. Two examples of the same shape but with different decoration are in the Topkapi Saray, one in the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
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