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Double-gourd shaped vase with a flared neck. On the lower bulb in a mountainous landscape with clouds, rocks and v-shaped grasses a group of men beside a carriage and a kneeling man with an ox on a rope and a calf. The shoulder with a scroll, the upper bulb with a scholar reclining in a landscape in the company of two servants. The waist with upright pointed leaves, the neck with tulip motifs and emblems.
The vase shows a continuous scene with the recluse Bocheng Zigao kneeling in front of emperor Yu of the Zhou dynasty (1122-256 B.C.). The official retired to work with his water buffalo out of loyalty to the preceding Shang dynasty (1766-1122 B.C.). The scene shows the moment he is being asked by the emperor to return to office but he refuses. In the turbulent times at the end of the Ming dynasty this old Daoist story became a recurrent theme on porcelains conveying a critical political message. Bocheng Zigao himself became an example for those among the Chinese elite who chose to remain loyal to the Ming and resigned from office. The bottle is painted in a bright cobalt-blue of various tones and shows fine shading. The glaze is smooth. Transitional scenes are typically separated by banks of clouds, the v-shaped grasses are a characteristic of Chongzhen period (1628-1644) porcelains and the tulip motifs on the neck became popular around 1635.
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