Blue Asian Antique Set of Four Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Plaques, Signed & Inscribed Shanshui Landscapes, Ebonized FramesTiles

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An antique set of four Chinese porcelain plaques, each hand-painted in underglaze cobalt blue with a mountain-and-water landscape in the … Read more An antique set of four Chinese porcelain plaques, each hand-painted in underglaze cobalt blue with a mountain-and-water landscape in the classical shanshui tradition — misty peaks, pine-clad cliffs, scholars' pavilions, arched bridges, and fishermen rendered in luminous, layered washes of blue.

Each plaque bears a calligraphic inscription with the scene's poetic title, cyclical date, and painter's signature, in the tradition of the Jingdezhen literati porcelain painters of the late Qing and Republic periods. Together, the four read as variations on a theme — four moods of the same dreamlike river country.

Plaque 1 (fisherman in boat, village at left): the title appears to read 野浦归舟 or similar — something like "Returning Boat on a Wild Shore" — the last character 舟 (boat) matches the lone fisherman in the scene. Medium confidence on the middle characters.

Plaque 2 (towering peaks, fisherman on bank): 湖山春晓 — "Spring Dawn over Lake and Mountains." High confidence.

Plaque 3 (house on rocky outcrop): 江山多娇 — "Rivers and Mountains So Fair." Fairly high confidence — and I need to flag something important about this one below.

Plaque 4 (waterfall peaks, house at right): appears to read 黄山湧云 or close — "Clouds Rising over Mount Huang (Huangshan)." Medium confidence.

The plaques are retained in their original ebonized wood frames with hand-forged iron hanging loops, the frames showing honest age, wear, and patina consistent with the porcelain they carry. Sourced on one of our own buying trips.

A set like this is the fastest route to collected Chinoiserie character: hang them as a grid of four above a console, in a vertical stack down a stair wall, or split them into pairs flanking a doorway or bed.

10.5 by 9.5 by 1 (without the hanger) for each plaque. See less