Ming Yongle Blue and White Cloud Dragon Pattern Tianqiu Vase, Hidden in the Palace Museum

Ming Yongle Blue and White Cloud Dragon Pattern Tianqiu Vase, Hidden in the Palace Museum

This cultural relic is 41.5 centimeters high, with a diameter of 9.3 centimeters and a foot diameter of 15.5 centimeters. The old collection of the Qing Palace. This vessel has a large and upright body, a round mouth, a straight neck, a mouth that is about the same size as the neck, a round belly, and shoulders that are about the same size as the bottom. It is commonly known as the "Heavenly Ball Bottle". The whole body is decorated with blue and white patterns, which are divided into two layers from top to bottom. The outer mouth is decorated with honeysuckle patterns, with branches and leaves as the skeleton, extending left and right to form a continuous edge decoration, and the neck is decorated with 6 cloud patterns. The entire abdomen is painted with cloud dragon patterns. The dragon has a large body, opens its mouth with angry eyes, and its mane rushes upwards, forming a back looking posture. Its limbs are extended forward, and its three claws are agile and powerful. Various shapes of cloud patterns are decorated in the gaps between the dragon bodies, highlighting the soaring momentum of the giant dragon. Flat bottomed white glaze without style.
During the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi's Five Colored Tiangong created the "Silkworm friendly" Tianqiu Bottle

During the Qing Dynasty, Kangxi's Five Colored Tiangong created the "Silkworm friendly" Tianqiu Bottle

The shape of the Tianqiu bottle is small mouth, straight neck, ample shoulder, false ring foot, and slightly concave sand bottom. Because the belly of the round ball is huge, as if descending from the sky, it is named
Tianqiu Bottle, a Five Colored Public Case Figure of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty

Tianqiu Bottle, a Five Colored Public Case Figure of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty

The function of the Tianqiu vase in the Qing Dynasty was to display porcelain. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Tianqiu vases were fired, but they were mainly popular during the Yongzheng and Qianlong dynasties. They were mostly fired by royal kiln factories for display in the palace and reward to ministers. In the early Qing Dynasty, Kangxi and Yongzheng had relatively thick and short necks, and the mouth was mostly straight. Moreover, the height of the Tianqiu vase was around 50-60cm.