Chen Yongqing

A pierced knob above a broad body#

The Hong Kong catalogue’s no. 13 shows a rear-handled pot with cloud-like ornament on its cover and an openwork knob. The curved spout, high handle and band around the body give the eye several lines to follow before it reaches the writing. The catalogue dates this object to the 1620s and gives height 28.6 cm and width 22 cm. It does not define the width’s endpoints or separate body height from height with the lid. Printed p. 64 / PDF p. 70

A name on the pot, a qualification in the record#

The catalogue labels the signature “[Chen] Yongqing”. Its bracketed surname is an identification supplied by the catalogue, not an extra character to add to the visible 用卿. The current Hong Kong Museum of Art description places a poem and the name on one side of the body. It also says the pot is said to be Chen’s work, using 據說; that qualification should travel with the attribution. C81.418 in the museum record

The book and the website describe the same accession, not two independently attributed pots. The detached signature detail in the book does not itself establish placement; the body location comes from the museum’s written description.

A different pot with an overhead handle#

Wuxi Museum records a separate overhead-handled pot under Chen’s name. It describes a lantern-like body, cloud ornament on the cover and a rectangular handle with a bamboo-joint detail. The stated overall length is 21.6 cm, width 16.4 cm and height 25 cm. These measurements belong to this object, not the Hong Kong pot. Wuxi object account

The museum places 丁丑年用卿 on the body and interprets its year as 1637. That conversion and the maker attribution are the museum’s assessment; a cyclical year by itself does not choose a unique Western date. The record gives no accession number, and this account relies on its description rather than a newly inspected inscription close-up.

Compare the objects, then the claims#

Compare the rear handle of C81.418 with the overhead handle described at Wuxi. The two records show why a maker page should begin with particular vessels rather than an imagined single “Chen Yongqing shape”. The shared name is a point of comparison, not a test that authenticates another pot.

Keep three questions separate: what is visible in the catalogue photograph, where the museum says the writing occurs, and how confidently the source assigns the work. The related mark page follows 用卿; the handle page explains what tiliang names in a vessel’s construction.

Related#

• Examine the documented 用卿 reading and its limits
• Compare overhead handles without assuming one maker or date