Chicken-Leg-Shaped Straight-Neck Prunus Vase with the Blue-and-White Painting of Zhuangyuan Crossing the Street Made in Wanli's Reign

This vase is exquisite in modeling, which is designed with a small mouth, a straight neck, arched shoulders, a tilted long belly, a slim and long waist, a ring foot, a glazed bottom and two circles of blue-and-white designs in the bottom center. Designs of the entire vessel consist of four layers. Each layer is isolated with bow-string designs. The neck is painted with blue-and-white banana leaf designs. The shoulders are painted with blue-and-white ruyi-shaped tippet pattern with flower designs with folded branches inside, and small ruyi-shaped cloud designs outside the tippet patterns. The bottom is decorated with blue-and-white designs of horses among waves. Three horses speed along in the rolling sea water. The belly is designed with the themed painting of zhuangyuan, the Number One Scholar of the highest-level imperial examination, crossing the street. The newly-crowned zhuangyuan and officials for delivering the good news march forward together on the horseback. Two people hold canes and clear the way. One person by the horse holds a canopy for keeping off the sunlight. Two servants follow closely behind the horse. Picturesque scenery can be seen in the distance. The grass looks like a green carpet in the broad scene. The entire painting is rigorous in composition, pleasant in strokes and fluent in lines.