Li T'ieh-kuai Wine Pot, Ming Figure of an Immortal, Antique Plate, 1911

Printed in color in London in 1911 for Bernard Quaritch, this original antique plate shows a wine pot in the form of Li T'ieh-kuai, one of the Eight Immortals, seated on rocks. His gourd forms the spout, a tree rising from the rocks forms the handle, and the pot is filled through an opening under the removable hat button. He holds a ling-chih fungus and a scroll book; the robes are aubergine edged in yellow, and the flesh is left in biscuit. Gorer and Blacker describe it as Ming period; height 7 3/4 inches (20 cm).

The plate comes from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, the two volume work that Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker published through Bernard Quaritch of 11 Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London, in 1911. Two hundred and fifty four full page plates were printed in color by a photo mechanical process, each one facing a page of letterpress in English and French that described the piece. The edition was limited to one thousand numbered copies. The plates are color collotypes, and the book records that it was produced and printed by the Menpes Printing and Engraving Company of London and Watford.

Each sheet shows a single piece or group photographed against a plain ground, at a consistent scale and format throughout the book, with the plate number printed in red below. The book's text, which faced each plate, gives the authors' description, the period they assigned and the collection the piece was in.

Even age toning. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.