Vase with the Pole Star deity (Kui Xing)
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.Featured on this cylindrical vase is the Kui Star, a popular deity associated with the Lord of Literature, standing on the head of a fish that is turning into a dragon. The fish, a carp, symbolizes a scholar trying to pass the civil-service examinations to earn an official appointment. It changes into a dragon after leaping through the Dragon Gate, just as a scholar is transformed after passing the examinations. The Kui Star, who oversees the conferring of degrees, is depicted riding through the waves with a writing brush in his right hand and a bushel in his left.
Artwork Details
- 清 順治 景德鎮窯青花魁星圖筒瓶
- Title: Vase with the Pole Star deity (Kui Xing)
- Period: Qing dynasty (1644–1911)
- Date: ca. 1650
- Culture: China
- Medium: Porcelain painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware)
- Dimensions: H. 15 7/8 in. (40.3 cm); Diam. 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm)
- Classification: Ceramics
- Credit Line: Promised Gift of Julia and John Curtis, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary
- Object Number: L.2017.53.2
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art