Chinese Penjing Planter Set (5 Ruyi Scepter Pots with Dragon Motif), Export Stoneware, Circa 1970s 🇨🇳🐉✨ Vera Stone Norman Underglaze Blue: The deep cobalt

Underglaze Blue: The deep cobalt blue color used for the painting is applied under the final glaze layer

Mary Potter Thacher Higginson (1844-1941) was an American author

rococo-inspired scrollwork handles

also from 1688

a decorative touch used by Knopf to give the book a classical

Chinese Penjing Planter Set (5 Ruyi Scepter Pots with Dragon Motif), Export Stoneware, Circa 1970s 🇨🇳🐉✨ Vera Stone Norman Underglaze Blue: The deep cobaltThis is a rare, cohesive collection of five miniature ceramic pots from China, definitively designed as planters for the specialized art of Penjing (miniature landscapes) or bonsai. The objects are cast in the symbolic shape of a Ruyi (Ry) Scepter, an ancient talisman representing power and good fortune. The value of this lot is secured by its explicit Chinese export origin, the strong cultural symbolism of the dragon motif, and its rarity as a