FAMILLE ROSE 'MAPLE AND PEACOCK' VASE BY ZHAI XIAOXIANG (1944- ) 1995 一九九五 翟筱翔款 景德鎮製底款 粉彩紅霜素羽白孔雀紋燈籠形賞瓶 the lantern-shaped oval body supported on a tall straight foot and terminating to a short inverted mouth rim, the body finely painted with two white peacocks perching on a large maple tree, one side inscribed with the title 'Hong Shuang Su Yu (Red maples with plain feathers)', dated to the Spring of Yi Hai year, corresponding to 1995, signed 'Zhai Xiao Xiang' (17.3cm high) Qty: (1) Provenance: Private English collection, London; acquired from Peter Wain, Shropshire during 25th February and 3rd March 1997 at the Olympia Fine Art and Antique Fair, with an original handwritten receipt which states the piece dates to Spring 1995, together with a certification states this vase 'was exhibited at the Olympia London demonstration and exhibition of Master Zhai Xiao Xiang of Jingdezhen, China and is certified an original work by the Master', signed by the artist and the dealer, the base inscribed with 'Jing De Zhen Zhi (Made in Jingdezhen)' mark in double square Note: Mr Zhai Xiaoxiang is one of eight Senior Masters currently working in Jingdezhen and the only one still painting in the traditional Imperial style. He was born in 1944 in Poyang county, Jiangxi Province. In 1955, he won a scholarship to the Art and Ceramics Training School, attached to the Art Porcelain Factory of Jingdezhen. During his time at the School he quickly earned a reputation for his excellent bird and flower painting. In 1975, he was invited by the Palace Museum, Beijing, to reproduce a copy, a porcelain, of a famous Kangxi Imperial cloisonne vase. The perfect work earned him not only the admiration of the museum and the industry in Jingdezhen but also a gold medal award from the President of the Chinese Republic. He is now a Consultant at the Jingdezhen Art College and the Deputy Director of the Jingdezhen Ceramic Research Institute, and his works are passionately collected in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan with a waiting list for his latest masterpieces. A comparable vase with overglaze decoration of birds on a rock was painted by Zhia Xiaoxiang himself and given to V&A during the Olympia Fine Art and Antique Fair in February 1997, accession number FE.66-1997