Famille rose brush holder with pomegranate, camellia and chrysanthemum designs

Reign of Emperor Qianlong, Qing Dynasty (1661-1722)
Height: 15cm
Diameter of mouth: 19 cm
Diameter of foot: 18.7 cm
Nanjing Museum

This hexagonal brush holder, with its golden edges, is exquisitely painted with pomegranate, camellia and chrysanthemums on its three walls. Poems written on the other three walls are the handwriting of Emperor Qianlong, including the Ode to the Pomegranate in running script, Ode to the Camellia in official script, and the Ode to the Chrysanthemum in seal script.

The pomegranate, camellia and chrysanthemums all blossom or fructify in the season of autumn, so the painting of the three is also called “sanqiu,” which means “three symbols of autumn.”