A Chinese porcelain famille rose dish, Yongzheng period, painted to the central reserve with Ma Gu ?? standing on a giant leaf beside a vase containing lingzhi sprigs, inside a border of flowering lotus stems, 22.5cm diameterMa Gu ?? (“hemp maiden”) is a popular Taoist immortal symbolising the elixir of immortality and a protector of the females in China. Depicted in the classic Ming dynasty novel ‘Journey to the West’ by Wu Cheng’en, Lady Ma brewed a concoction of wine and cannabis for a birthday banquet hosted by the ‘Queen Mother of the West’. Ma Gu attended the peach banquet and gave this drink to the Queen Mother Xi Wang Mu, and the image of this scene is known as Ma Gu Xian Shou ???? (“Ma Gu Offers Longevity”). The portrait of Ma Gu and her fawn was a very popular birthday motif with women in Imperial China, owing to her association with beauty and longevity. Porcelain and other works of art bearing her likeness is often given to married couples on auspicious occasions, such as wedding anniversaries.An example of a portrait of Ma Gu can be found on a Qing dynasty hanging scroll at the National Museum in Warsaw. A blue and white example can be found in David S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, The Private Market in Chinese Export Porcelain illustrated from the Hodroff Collection, 1994, page 283 item 342.

slight wear, but generally good.