A CHINESE FAMILLE-VERTE 'LADIES PLAYING TOUHU' DISH

Qing Dynasty, 18th Century

清十八世紀 五彩仕女投壺圖盤

Painted to the centre to depict a pair of ladies dressed in long flowing robes sat at a garden table adorned with lotus flowers and bundles of texts, the pair engaged in a game of touhu as they throw arrows into a slender vase, the garden below the terrace decorated with blossoming trees, bamboo and rockery, the sloped rim with stylised lotus flowerheads on a dense ground of curling green vines,

23.2cm diameter

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NOTE:

The depiction of ladies playing a game of touhu is a rare one, as the game was predominantly played by men in ancient China. The 'two ladies' theme often refers to Daqiao and Xiaoqiao, two beauties during the Three Kingdoms period who are usually depicted as reading together in later Chinese decorative art.

A comparable depiction, this one painted on a basin, was sold by Bonhams Hong Kong, 2nd December 2021, lot 58. A late-17th century table screen decorated with a similar scene is housed in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, acc. no. 2006.430a, b.

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