Sky-Blue-Glazed Zun with Twin Dragon Handles and Applied Lotus-Petal Relief

Look at the rim: two dragons have climbed up the sides and are biting the edge of the vase, as if leaning in for a drink. Wide round eyes, curling manes, mouths clamped on the lip. They are the handles.

The idea is over a thousand years old. Twin-dragon vessels like this were made in China from the Northern and Southern Dynasties through the Tang. The Qianlong Emperor, who loved collecting antiques, had his imperial kilns revive the form, a court ideal called jigu youwen, "honouring antiquity."

Then they dressed it in tianqing, a soft sky-blue glaze meant to recall the legendary Song celadons. Raised ribs ring the neck, and a band of applied teardrop-shaped panels, each moulded with scrolling foliage and ruyi heads, circles the shoulder like lotus petals. Lotus meant purity; the dragons, protection and good fortune.

34.5 cm tall. The base carries a raised seal-script Qianlong mark in a square.

The vessel has a flared rim, a tall neck with gently sloping shoulders, a full rounded body tapering towards the base, and a low foot ring. Symmetrically applied to either side of the neck are twin dragon-shaped handles, their heads facing inward to frame the rim. The sinuous bodies form loop handles, with the dragons’ mouths gripping the rim. Their curling manes and wide, round eyes lend the creatures a vigorous and animated appearance.

The neck is ornamented with several raised horizontal ribs, while the transition between the shoulder and body is encircled by a band of applied, moulded heart-shaped or teardrop-shaped cartouches. Each is decorated in relief with scrolling foliage and ruyi motifs, arranged rhythmically around the vessel. The entire vessel is covered in a refined sky-blue (tianqing) glaze, its warm, jade-like tone complemented by a smooth, lustrous surface. The glaze evokes the celebrated Song-dynasty celadon aesthetic, conveying the characteristic quality of celadon described as “like ice and jade.”

Twin Dragon Handles: The dragon is a traditional symbol of imperial authority, auspicious power, and good fortune. The symmetrical pairing of two dragons conveys the protective symbolism of “double dragons guarding the sovereign,” while also expressing wishes for protection, prosperity, domestic harmony, and success in one’s endeavours.

Lotus-Petal Decoration: Rooted in Buddhist culture, the lotus symbolises purity, spiritual elevation, auspiciousness, and integrity. In Chinese auspicious symbolism, the lotus also carries the homophonic association of lian (lotus) with “continuity,” giving rise to wishes for the birth of sons and the flourishing of descendants.

Raised Ribs: The raised horizontal ribs serve both a decorative and structural visual function, accentuating the vessel’s contours and lending greater rhythm and definition to its profile. Such ribbed ornamentation is also a characteristic element of archaistic ceramics, reflecting the Qing dynasty’s fascination with the forms and decorative vocabulary of antiquity.

This vessel is an archaistic creation that synthesises the form of double-dragon zun vessels dating from the Northern and Southern Dynasties through the Sui and Tang periods, faithfully reinterpreted and produced at the Qianlong imperial kilns. Its sky-blue glaze draws upon the aesthetic tradition of Song-dynasty Ru ware and represents a classic monochrome glaze of the Qing imperial kilns.

The lotus-petal decoration, rooted in Buddhist art, conveys purity, spiritual dignity, and auspiciousness, while the paired dragon handles symbolise the protective embrace of the double dragon, expressing harmony between yin and yang and the enduring stability of the realm. The vessel’s deliberate archaistic form further embodies the courtly ideal of jigu youwen (稽古右文)—a reverence for antiquity and the cultivation of refined literary and cultural values through the study and revival of the past.

The base bears a six-character square seal mark in raised (yangwen) seal script, with the inscription rendered in relief rather than painted in underglaze blue. The characters are crisply defined, with rounded and vigorous strokes, clearly distinguished from the more linear style of underglaze-blue reign marks. Such marks are frequently encountered on substantial archaistic monochrome-glazed vessels of the Qianlong period, including those covered in sky-blue, imitation Guan, and imitation Ru glazes, particularly zun and vase forms.

The mark represents the standard seal-script style of Qianlong-period imperial wares. The strokes are evenly proportioned and symmetrical, with a full and rigorously structured composition. The turning points of the characters “乾、隆、年、製” are smoothly rounded, while the overall arrangement is balanced and dignified, reflecting the characteristic seal-script style of the mid-Qianlong period.

The entire base is covered in the same sky-blue glaze as the vessel, maintaining a consistent, warm, and lustrous tone. The exposed porcelain around the foot ring reveals a fine, pale yellowish-brown sandy body, while the foot is neatly trimmed and smoothly finished.