A large powder-blue rouleau vase decorated with the « Three Friends of Winter ». China, Kangxi

The trio of plants depicted on the vase, collectively known as the Three Friends of Winter (歲寒三友, Suihan Sanyou), constitutes one of the most symbolically charged themes in Chinese art. It comprises the pine, bamboo, and prunus—species capable of withstanding the rigours of the season.

The pine, evergreen throughout the year, symbolises longevity, constancy, and moral strength. The bamboo, upright yet flexible, evokes integrity, modesty, and the ability to bend without breaking. The prunus, which blossoms in the depths of winter before the cold has fully abated, embodies renewal, resilience, and purity. Together, these three plants form an allegory of the ideal virtues of the scholar-gentleman in the face of adversity.

The theme appeared as early as the Song dynasty and became firmly established in literati painting, poetry, and the decorative arts. Under the Ming and Qing dynasties, it evolved into a canonical motif, frequently depicted on porcelain, lacquer, ink painting, and scholar’s objects. Far from being a mere vegetal ornament, it conveys a moral and intellectual message immediately intelligible to the informed Chinese viewer.

This blue ground is known in Chinese as 洒蓝 (salan), literally “powder blue”), also historically referred to as 吹青 (chuiqing), literally “blown blue”; in French as bleu poudré and in English as powder blue or blown blue. It first appeared at Jingdezhen during the Xuande period of the Ming dynasty, and reached full maturity during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. 

To achieve this glaze, a bamboo tube was dipped into a cobalt-blue glaze solution and used to blow the pigment onto the surface of a previously fired white-glazed porcelain vessel. This technique resulted in an uneven distribution of pigment, forming speckled patterns of varying density and depth. A thin layer of transparent glaze was then applied, before high-temperature firing.

The rouleau vase was one of the forms that emerged at Jingdezhen during the first half of the Kangxi reign (1662–1722), probably developing from the traditional shape known as the rollwagen, which became popular in China during the mid-17th century.