Spring Landscape in Round Fan Format, Xiong Jingxing, ink and color on silk

Spring Landscape in Round Fan Format

Xiong Jingxing

Qing dynasty (1644-1912), 1837

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Glazed stoneware cups with brown exteriors, inside well decorated with the Chinese character phuc, "good fortune," surrounded by a circle, all painted in underglaze-blue cobalt-oxide.
The posture of this figure, both legs bent one behind, the other underneath, signals this monkey is flying. He holds in his left hand a double-edged sword, while his right hand holds a flower. The flower may here represent the herbs required to heal Lakshman (Pra Lak) from a life-threatening wound. Hanuman is only the lid of this exquisite box. The sides of the box are lavishly decorated with birds, crabs, lobsters, mollusks, fish, birds, and diverse plants, suggesting his long journey and ability to fly over land and swim in water. This box might have been employed for luxury ingredients for a betel chewing gift exchange for honored guests.
Chapter 34 (Spring Shoots I), from the series of Faithful Depiction of That Purple Figure, Utagawa Kunisada, ink and color on paper
A medium size bell with dragon handle