Catalogue No.: 355

Height 51cm, Width 34cm

Starting bid: RMB 160,000

Estimate: RMB 800,000~900,000

This collection is an official kiln 'Dragon Character Auspicious Vase' jointly created by two grandmasters: Ye Hongming, a master of celadon, and Sha Menghai, a master of calligraphy. It was produced by Grandmaster Ye Hongming and inscribed by Grandmaster Sha Menghai. The vessel's shape is grand and dignified. The dragon symbolizes a spirit and is a totem of a nation. Its significance is extraordinary; it can be said to be a general term for a nation and a region, embodying an enduring sense of heritage. In traditional Chinese culture, the dragon is a symbol of power, nobility, and honor, as well as a sign of luck and success. Sha Menghai (1900-1992), calligrapher and seal carver. His original name was Wenruo, with pseudonyms Shacun, Shihuang, and Lansha. He was from Yin County, Zhejiang. In his early years, he studied classical literature under Feng Junmu and calligraphy and seal carving under Wu Changshuo. He successively served as professor of the Chinese Department at Zhejiang University, honorary curator of the Provincial Museum, lifelong professor at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, vice chairman, honorary director, and advisor of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, chairman and honorary chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Calligraphers Association, president of Xiling Seal Engravers Society, and dean of Xiling Painting and Calligraphy Academy, among other positions. His calligraphy began with seal and clerical scripts, extended to Han and Wei steles, and he freely imitated and appreciated their forms. In his middle and later years, he mostly practiced regular, running, and cursive scripts, integrating the strengths of various styles and incorporating his own ideas, thus achieving a profound, rich, varied, and magnificent style of his own. He did not produce many seal carvings, advocating a simple and unadorned style, without exclusively following one master. His works include 'Sha Menghai's Collected Essays on Calligraphy', 'Lansha Guan Yinshi', 'Sha Menghai's Calligraphy Manual', 'History of Seal Carving', 'Sha Menghai's Calligraphy Collection', and 'Sha Menghai's Collection of Regular, Running, and Cursive Scripts', etc.