Purple-Gold-Glazed Falangcai Ewer with Sgraffito Ground, Relief Eighteen Arhats, and Bagua Medallions

Look from above and you'll see it: the whole vessel is a yin-yang symbol. One half is glazed in dark "purple-gold" brown, the other in warm coral red, and the two curl into each other exactly like the taiji diagram. Each half has its own lid, topped with a gilded knob.

The Qianlong court loved this kind of playful, technically daring design. On the coral half, look closely at the ground: it's covered in hair-fine incised lines, a technique called sgraffito (zhadao), scratched into the enamel by hand one stroke at a time. Over it sit famille rose panels of flowers, gilded scrolls and gold-rimmed round openings.

Yin and yang, the dark and the light, the receptive and the active, are the two forces whose balance makes the world turn. The vessel is also decorated, according to its catalogue title, with the Eight Trigrams (bagua) and the Eighteen Arhats, Buddhist sages, in relief.

The vessel is modelled after the Taiji symbol of interlocking yin and yang forms, embodying the traditional concept of “harmony between yin and yang” and the unity of the myriad things. The body is divided into two sections, each fitted with an independent cover surmounted by a gilt finial. The entire surface is finely carved with a diapered key-fret ground, while the two opposing sections are distinguished in red and brown to represent the yin and yang halves. The exterior is further articulated with ruyi-shaped reserved panels containing famille rose depictions of the Eighteen Arhats, each rendered with lively expressions and individualised poses amid swirling auspicious clouds. The panels are framed by gilt dragons, phoenixes, flowers, and birds, bringing together carved porcelain, gilding, and famille rose enamelling in a highly elaborate decorative scheme. This ingenious synthesis of the Daoist Taiji form and Buddhist Arhat imagery exemplifies the imaginative, complex and eclectic character of Qianlong-period novelty porcelain.

The vessel is ingeniously modelled as an interlocking Taiji yin-yang form, divided into two compartments and fitted with two separate covers, representing a classic example of the Qianlong period’s inventive tradition of figural and novelty porcelain. The ground is intricately carved in a diaper pattern, further enhanced with gilt decoration, while the reserved panels are painted in famille rose enamels. The combination of carved porcelain, gilding, and polychrome enamelling creates a richly layered surface characteristic of the highly elaborate decorative techniques of the Qianlong period.

Within the ruyi-shaped reserved panels, famille rose enamels depict an assembly of Arhats gathered for a Buddhist sermon. The figures are dressed in richly coloured monastic robes, with the cloth-bearing Budai monk occupying the centre of the composition. Above, a coiling auspicious dragon hovers in the clouds, evoking the Buddhist theme of the Dharma protector subduing the dragon and the propagation of the Buddha’s teachings. Auspicious clouds form the lower ground, creating an expansive spatial setting that vividly evokes a sacred Buddhist realm. The figures are rendered with softly modelled, naturalistic faces and sumptuous robes, employing a rich palette of iron red, cobalt blue, purple, and green enamels. Fine gilt lines articulate the dragon’s scales and cloud scrolls, lending the composition a sumptuous yet solemn courtly character.

The base is covered in a smooth turquoise-green glaze and divided into two corresponding yin-yang sections, each bearing a square raised seal-script mark highlighted in gilt, reading “大清乾隆年制” (Da Qing Qianlong Nian Zhi). The edge of the foot ring is likewise outlined in gilt, while the glaze is even, lustrous, and finely finished. The paired marks correspond to the vessel’s distinctive dual-chamber Taiji form and exemplify the elaborate base decoration characteristic of Qianlong-period imperial novelty porcelains.