Description

Square Canister with expanding neck, Freer Gallery of Art

The Thompson catalogue described the subject as follows:

'Square Canister with expanding neck. On one panel a sage seated on a rock, below which is a stag; on another panel two mandarins or persons of rank giving instructions to a warrior; on a third a rocky landscape with two figures carrying baskets; on the remaining one female figure, probably a goddess, appearing to a man who is leading an ox over a bridge; numerous birds flying round the bridge. On the neck lotus flowers and symbols. Height, 11 ½ inches.' 1

The side on the left depicts the 'two mandarins or persons of rank giving instructions to a warrior'; the one to right certainly shows two figures in a landscape, but no baskets are visible. The canister is lit from the left, and the side seen at right is in shadow.