Actually, I’ve had this vase for years but have never before pressed it into service to hold an arrangement. If you look closely, you can see that the candle holders are carved ebony in an oriental style. I don’t know my Asian styles, so it’s probably from some completely different region than the writing on the vase.
The yellow edging on the tiny leaves of Lonicera nitida ‘Baggsen’s Gold’ picks up the yellow of the Forsythia and daffodils.
It’s nice to have evergreens bulking up to the point where I can snip a few branches here and there.
Forsythia is one of the few things that will droop like this, so I had to jump on it. There’s more, much more, over at (Rambling in the Garden), where Cathy hosts In a Vase on Monday every week.
Jumping on your forsythia – whatever next?! And I think you need to get your vase ‘read’ – the columns of writing must be significant in some way, so do let us know if someone can translate it… In the meantime your narcissi, forsythia and foliage perfectly complement each other – thanks for sharing
Hmmm…leave it to you to think of translating the vase. Believe me, if I ever run across someone to do that, I will let you know.
I also wonder what it says.
Seems unusual to have a ‘wall of text’ rather than a few words.
Funny, I always just thought of it as a design element, in which case the overall pattern makes sense. Exposing it to all of you brought up the question of “what does it say?”. If Matthew comes up with the answer to that, I will definitely share it.
Oh, those flowers are lovely and I really want that vase.
I know…how could it have remained stuck on a shelf for so long?
Elegant arrangement in a beautiful container.
Thanks…oh what I could do with some of your Aloe blossoms.
Oh, that’s very pretty! The vase, with the yellow blooms … and the candles. And the form of it all together … very creative and pleasant, Ricki. 🙂
Oh, Beth: you give me too much credit, but I’m glad you like it.
It all works so nicely together, you waited for the perfect time to bring out that vase! (and I hope Matthew can translate it).
I’m waiting on Matthew wqith bated breath.
The vase is wonderful – I’m glad you brought it out of retirement. Forsythia is another in the long list of plants I wish I could grow.
Forsythia would probably not be on my short list,but with a large property I do enjoy the early cheering squad.
A burst of Spring! Love that vase, it looks like Japanese writing to me. It ould be great to know what it says wouldn’t it.
I have a FB friend who thinks he might be able to translate. Stay tuned.
Exciting!
Glad you think so.
Nice combo of foliage and flowers!
Thanks, Jason. I’m warming to yellow…can pink be far behind?
Those pretty yellows look fabulous in your oriental vase. Does it have a makers stamp on the base? You may be able find out more about it by googling them 🙂
That’s an interesting idea. Once it is empty and weighs less than a baby elephant, I’ll have a look.
The Forsythia is THE signal for spring for me, so it’s always lovely to see it in a vase… and what a great vase too! I know a lot of people aren’t keen on Forsythia, but it does light up the gardens everywhere when it flowers. Still waiting for mine!
Like so many things, it has its “moment” then recedes into the background. That’s fine with me. There can only be so many stars competing for the spotlight at one time.
I am not so good at ancient Chinese literature or history, but I did find where this paragraph comes from.
It is from the ???? Siku Quanshu.
During the height of the Qing dynasty in the 18th century, the Qianlong ?? Emperor commissioned the Siku Quanshu to demonstrate that the Qing dynasty could surpass the Ming dynasty’s 1403 Yongle Encyclopedia ????, which was the world’s largest encyclopedia at the time.
(Below from Wikipedia)
The Siku Quanshu collection is divided into four kù (?; meaning: “treasury or repository”) parts, in reference to the imperial library divisions.
J?ng (? “Classics”) Chinese classic texts
Sh? (? “Histories”) histories and geographies from Chinese history
Z? (? “Masters”) philosophy, arts, sciences from Chinese philosophy
Jí (? “Collections”) anthologies from Chinese literature
Your vase is verse number 32, called “???? – The Trials of Ling Spring” (repeated several times around the vase from what I could see in the photos), is one of the 114 paragraphs in this long piece of work.
The verse seems to be about the praises Emperor Qian-long sang for the town of Zhen-jiang ?? in Jiangsu Province, China. (?????)
Strangely, I could not find other sentences on the vase in this long piece of work…
See this like for more of the work: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_8d5a595d0102vm80.html
It’s not the best explanation, but it at least gives you an idea about what it all means.
Wow! That’s a lot of info. People are interested in the meaning, so I will try to copy from your FB entry to post here and see if the Chinese characters carry over. Thanks so much for going to the trouble. How did you get to be so knowledgeable about this stuff?
Good to have an idea what it is all about. Thank you.
Now I’m convinced that there is no question we can throw out without someone knowing the answer.
Brilliant isn’t it!
Hope so.
oh pooh – I will cross post in Facebook as all the Chinese is gone…
Interesting about the meaning of the writing on your vase! Your combination of bright golden cuttings in an ikebana like style (yes, I know that’s Japanese and the vase is Chinese) works beautifully together. Love this arrangement. The red and gold remind me of lunar new year.
At least we kept it on the same continent.