An enamelled water pot and an enamelled baluster vase


Signed Liu Xiren, cyclically dated gengwu year, corresponding to 1930The globular pot finely decorated with a seated Daoist scholar tutoring a young boy, a red seal, artist's seal mark to base; the baluster vase with Shoulao and a red-capped crane, a four-line inscription, one red seal, artist's seal mark to base, fitted silk-brocade and glazed box for both vases. The largest: 14cm (5 1/2in) high (3).
|See a beehive water pot and baluster vase, both signed Liu Xiren, dated 1930-40, illustrated in S. Kwan, Chinese Porcelain of the Republic Period, Hong Kong, 2008, p. 277 & 278, no. 111 & 112. Compare with a small bottle vase, signed Liu Xiren, dated Republic Period, sold at Christie's London, 14 May 2010, lot 416.Liu Xiren (1906-1967) and his brother Liu Xiyu were third-generation literati painters well-known as ceramic artists in the Nanchang area in the 1930s. Famous for his fine figural skills, the two pieces in the present lot are outstanding examples of Xiren's work.