Seascape in a pot

In China, there is a long history of landscapes and figurative scenes being displayed in pots. Traditionally, they consist of miniature trees alongside rocks, but by the Qing dynasty (1644-1910), potted landscapes crafted from precious materials were made for the imperial collections. Among them, some feature large coral branches. They continue a tradition of simpler miniature landscapes in which rocks form mountains, and corals are trees, an example of which we see on the desk of the Han dynasty scholar Fu Sheng in a painting by Du Jin (fl. ca.1465-1509).

The Qing dynasty variations of this type of miniature landscape are far more embellished than earlier examples. They can explicitly refer to mythological realms inhabited by the Daoist Immortals.

Simultaneously, the tradition of ‘potted landscapes’ made from plants and natural rocks continued as documented, for example in a Guangzhou painting album from the late Qing dynasty. Among these different types of miniature landscapes, those that exhibit seascapes are exceptional.