Limited Masterworks Box Carp with Flowers

The Chinese porcelain artist Zhuoyu Hou has a passion for factoring the perfection of Mother Nature into her designs and in the process creating functional items of great beauty. Plants, animals, water and even fleetingly reflected light all lend wings to her imagination and invariably form the basis of how she approaches the heritage-rich material that is Meissen porcelain.

The young artist derived her inspiration from the dynamic flow of water when fashioning her latest creation. Specifically, she has imbued the shapes of her boxes with the spiralling motion of swirling water. Curving lines and planes engirdle the vessels, dividing their surfaces up into 6 and 8 sections respectively. Some are of a gentle disposition whilst others are rather more dissonant - a bit like life itself really. The two numbers have strong symbolic connotations in Chinese culture and stand for happiness and wealth.

As with many of her other works, our porcelain artist also tapped into her cultural roots when decorating this box:

Carp with Peony
Red carp are a symbol in China of happiness and wealth and are often combined with a variety of flowers that include the peony. This flamboyant bloom is likewise emblematic of wealth, and of fame besides. With her consummate, splendidly colourful combination of red carp, delicate-green flowers and ornamental gilding, therefore, Zhuoyu Hou has given rise to an up-to-the-minute yet heritage-rich scheme full of symbolic meaning that will surely bestow no end of happiness and wealth upon its owner.