特532 古物郵票（98年版）/ Sp. 532 Ancient Chinese Art Treasures Postage Stamps (Issue of 2009)

##ReadMore##
特532 古物郵票（98年版）/ Sp. 532 Ancient Chinese Art Treasures Postage Stamps (Issue of 2009)
Issued on: 20 Jul, 2009

To spread understanding about the beauty of ancient Chinese artifacts, Chunghwa Post is issuing a set of four stamps and a souvenir sheet on ancient articrafts from the National Palace Museum collection. Two of the stamps have denominations of NT$5.00, and two denominations of NT$12.00. The souvenir sheet consists of the 4 above-mentioned stamps. The designs follow:

1. A Pair of Gold Gourds, Qing Dynasty, 18th Century (NT$5.00): The surface of these gold bottle gourds features a lacy design of intertwining flowers, leaves and tiny bottle gourds. There are three leaves sticking out from the stem of each gourd. These gourds have two detachable parts. The upper parts fit over lips at the tops of the lower sections. In Chinese, larger fruits produced by vines are called gua, whereas smaller fruits of vines are called die. Because the bottle gourd continually fruits and flowers, it is associated with the Chinese expression “mian mian gua die,” which is used to describe a family with abundant descendants.

2. Gold Bowl Used Personally by the Qianlong Emperor, Qing Dynasty (1736-1795) (NT$5.00): The interior of the bowl is smooth and unadorned, while the exterior is densely embellished with small millet-shaped beads set into a pattern of pomegranates, flowers, and leaves. The result is dazzling and exuberant. On the bottom, inside the ring foot, there are four traced-standard-script characters carved in intaglio: Qianlong Yuyong (“for the personal use of Emperor Qianlong”).

3. Mughal Empire Large Round Urn with Inlay Ca. 17th-18th Century (NT$12.00): The body of the urn is covered with hexagonal plates of bluish white jade. Metal wire inlay may have been present originally between the jade pieces although no trace remains. The jade pieces are inlaid with rubies, emeralds, topazes and brown gemstones set in gold wire.

4. Gilt Ewer with Cloud and Dragon Decor, Qing Dynasty (NT$12.00): This pot, in the shape of a bottle gourd, has a long spout and a long handle, to which the lid is chained. Four seal script characters—wan shou wu jiang (“may you live forever”)—and dragons are carved in relief on the belly of the gourd. The Chinese words for bottle gourd (hulu) sound similar to the words for good fortune and prosperity (fu lu). Consequently, a gourd bearing the four characters described above conveys the idea of “good fortune, prosperity and longevity” (“fu lu shou”), three words that are commonly regarded as life’s greatest blessings in Chinese culture. This was an imperial wine vessel used by Qing Dynasty emperors.


為闡揚我國歷代文物之美，特以國立故宮博物院庋藏之文物為主題，發行「古物郵票（98年版）」1組4枚及小全張1張；郵票面值為新臺幣5元及12元各2枚，小全張為新台幣34元。茲簡介本組郵票圖案如下：

一、清 十八世紀 子孫萬代金葫蘆一對（面值5元）：器身葫蘆形，器壁鏤雕纏繞的花葉及小葫蘆。上端瓜蒂旁立雕捲藤及小葉3片，器身中腰處似子母口般上下套接。大者稱瓜，小者為瓞，葫蘆瓜蔓末端不斷開花結實。以「綿綿瓜瓞」比喻子孫繁盛、傳世萬代。

二、清 乾隆御用金碗(面值5元)：金碗內壁光素，外壁石榴、花、葉紋飾之間，滿布繁密之粟形小粒金珠，炫目華麗。碗底圈足內陰刻雙鉤楷書款：「乾隆御用」四字。

三、蒙兀兒帝國 十七至十八世紀 帶鑲嵌圓腹大罐(面值12元)：器腹上貼有六角形青白玉片，每片之間可能原嵌有金屬絲，目前均已脫落。白玉片上以金絲鑲嵌紅、綠、黃、褐等各色寶石。

四、清 鍍金雲龍紋萬壽無疆蒲蘆式壺（面值12元）：蒲蘆是葫蘆的別稱，此壺器身作葫蘆形，有長流及把柄，以鍊與蓋頂相連。壺腹上錘鏨陽文篆書「萬」、「壽」、「無」、「疆」以及雲龍紋飾，結合葫蘆造形，寓意「福祿壽」，為清代皇帝御用酒器。


Reference:
Chunghwa Post Co., Ltd.