Large vase

Four panels depicting the four occupations of gentlemen—the qin, the chess game, the book, and the painting—decorate the shoulder of this vase. Images of fishing in mountain lakes are arranged in rectangular panels symmetrically placed on the neck and the body. The two scenes on the body alternate with two rounded panels enclosing a fish and a shrimp. The highly decorated ground has myriad black penciled whirls covered with green, on which colorful peony sprays are scattered all over. The motif, related to wealth and nobility, as suggested by the fish and peony, is strongly emphasized by the dark-toned ground.