IMPERIAL, JINGDEZHEN KILNS, DAOGUANG FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN IRON RED AND OF THE PERIOD (1821-1850)

Humphrey Hui and Peter Lam suggest that the theme of two Manchu officials on different mounts derives from renderings of the Imperial hunting trip called Qiulie (Autumn hunting), which was instituted by the Kangxi Emperor and continued into the Daoguang reign in the early nineteenth century. Between 1740 and 1745 the Qianlong Emperor ordered the painters at the Royal Painting Academy to illustrate this event (see H. Hui and P. Lam, The Imperial Connection. Court Related Chinese Snuff Bottles, Hong Kong, 1998, no. 115). There are other possible interpretations of the subject, however. The racoon dog, (gouhuan), together with the camel, (luotuo), make up a visual pun for the term, huanluo, meaning joy and happiness. While the officials depicted signify a bureaucratic career much-aspired to by most intellectuals, several felicitous puns are hidden in other decorative elements. The dog (gou or quan) and the horse (ma) together suggest quanma, a term expressing loyalty. The dog and the saddle (ma'an) produce another term, anquan, which means safety. The rifles (changqiang) stand for prosperity (changsheng). The camel (luotuo) with two humps (feng) suggests abundance and happiness (fengluo). The quiver (jiandai) conveys the hope that many generations (dai) will be blessed with all these good things.