A Chinese famille rose bottle vase with figures, signed by Wang Qi, 20th century

粉彩人物瓶, 王琦署

the gourd-shaped vase with a long straight neck and everted rim, a ridged band on the neck, the foot rim stepped, the body painted with the image of the Song poet and artist Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo, holding a wine cup and looking at the moon, an attendant accompanying, the inscription is the first two sentences was from Su's The Tune of Shui Diao Ge Tou, translated as "How long has there been a bright moon? Grasping a goblet of wine, I ask the blue sky" , with Wang Qi's signature and two personal seals follow, the bottom with the seal 'Tao tao zhai', the name of his study room

Wang Qi (1884-1937) was the leading member in Eight Friends of Zhushan. Wang started his painting from copying Qian Huinan's (1833-1911) female figure paintings and learned porcelain painting from Deng Bishan (1874-1930). In 1916 during his visit to Shanghai, Wang changed his style after having seen the works by Huang Shen, one of the masters of Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou; and in 1928, he and Wang Dafan organised the Yue Yuan Hui, the Full Moon Society, later called Eight Friends of Zhushan.

此葫芦形长颈瓶体型特别, 绘有苏轼中秋夜饮酒赋诗形象, 瓶身题款为苏轼 <水调歌头> 首两句, 后有珠山八友之首王琦署款及印章, 作于珠山, 瓶底有 "匋匋斋" 矾红手绘印

王琦 (1886-1937), 珠山八友之首, 初仿钱慧安人物画, 并学瓷于邓碧山。1916年抵沪, 从此学扬州八怪黄慎画风; 1928年与汪大凡等人组织 “月圆会”, 后改称 “珠山八友”。