The piece
Ochre-red deer motif amid snow forest, punning ‘fu-lu’ (fortune & prosperity). Snow scene cool, deer warm—rigid and soft in balance.
Reading the snow
A touch of ochre-red on the snow plain—a deer walks in snow, looking back. Deer have been painted on Chinese porcelain for a millennium: ‘lu’ means prosperity; folk have old motifs like ‘pine and deer in spring’ and ‘heaven’s hundred blessings’. This cup puts the oldest blessing into the cleanest snow colour.
Auspicious themes fear the vulgar hand most: painted full it becomes a New Year print, painted sparse it loses sincerity. This cup takes the ‘count white as black’ path—the whole cup leaves snow, only an ochre-red deer dotted in; the colour area is extremely sparing, yet says ‘fortune & prosperity’ loud and light: loud in everyone knowing it, light in not stating it outright.
One-of-a-kind, unique. Fortune & prosperity has always been the first choice for gifts: New Year, house-moving, shop-opening, new baby—and the hand-painted one-of-a-kind makes the blessing ‘never the same’. What you send is a cup, what stays is the meaning: may you have both fortune and prosperity, and may you walk like the deer on snow, unhurried.
H6 ⌀7.3 cm, generous capacity, outward-flaring rim soft on the lips. Open the year’s first brew with this cup—the auspicious word is the appeal, what you drink is grounded.
From the studio
Deer calls in the snow forest, punning fortune & prosperity. Warm ochre-red holds down the cool.
Private enquiry
Each piece is painted entirely by hand, without moulds, and exists only once. The guide price in AUD is shown on this page. Current availability is confirmed by email before any arrangement is made.