This dramatic mid-century porcelain vase was produced during the height of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (circa 1968–1972). It serves as both fine decorative porcelain and historic political propaganda, commemorating key revolutionary milestones: the completion of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in 1968 and the sacred revolutionary pilgrimage site of Mao's birthplace in Shaoshan.
Panel 1 — Quotations from Chairman Mao (毛主席语录):
"We Communists are like seeds, and the people are like the soil. Wherever we go, we must unite with the people, take root and blossom among them."
Panel 2 — Chairman Mao's Latest Directive (毛主席最新指示):
"Do not always assume that you are right, as if truth belongs solely to you. Do not always believe that only you are capable and everyone else is incapable, as if without you, the earth would stop turning." (Cited from the October 22, 1968 People's Daily).
Vignette 1: Mao Zedong's ancestral home in Shaoshan (韶山) nestled in lush landscape.
Vignette 2: The double-deck rail and road Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge celebrating its victorious engineering completion (南京长江大桥胜利建成).
Form: Handled baluster vase with ruffled scalloped mouth rim and molded stylized dragon/s-scroll handles.
Height: Approx. 11.5 inches
Width: Approx. 8 inches across shoulder (diameter)
Accents: Cobalt blue stylized lotus petal neck banding, iron-red auspicious clouds on the neck, and gilt rim accent.
Displays wonderfully with vibrant polychrome enamels and clean glossy glaze. Has a teeny tiny flea bite on the rim as seen in pictures (Photos 095006 & 095011), typical of scalloped porcelain edges. Free of hairlines, cracks, repairs, or crazing.