Mao Cultural Revolution Vase

Maoist Porcelain Baluster Vase

This tall, baluster-shaped vase is decorated with transfer prints celebrating the Cultural Revolution, China’s paramount leader Mao Zedong and his then close comrade and second-in-command Lin Biao.

The vase is decorated with an image of Mao and numerous quotations. These read as follows:

Around the mouth of the vase:

伟大  领袖  导师  舵手  统帅

which translates as:

‘Great leader, teacher, helmsman, commander-in-chief’

Around the shoulder of the vase:

最高指示千万不要忘记阶级斗争

which translates as:

‘Top instruction: must not forget war of classes’

Around the body:

伟大的舵手

伟大的统帅

伟大的领袖

伟大的导师

林彪

which translates as:

‘Great Helmsman

Great Commander-in-Chief

Great Leader

Great Teacher

Lin Biao’

and:

大海航行靠舵手，干革命靠毛泽东思想。

林彪 年月日

‘Sea sailing requires a helmsman; Revolution requires Mao’s thinking.

29 10 1967′

and:

红军不怕远征难

万水千山只等闲

五岭逶迤腾细浪

乌蒙磅礴走泥丸

金沙水拍云崖暖

大渡桥横铁索寒

更喜岷山千里雪

三军过后尽开颜

which translates as:

‘Red Army fears no hard expeditions

Seas and mountains are mere ordinary

Five huge ridges are like small waves

The grandeur of Wumeng mountain is like little rock

The Jinsha river that slaps the precipices is warm

The Dadu Bridge that crosses the river has cold rails

Loving the endless white snow at Minshan mountain

The Red Army is extremely happy after passing Minshan

Mao (written 1935, October)’

Lin Biao, who is mentioned on the vase was a Communist military leader who played a critical role in the communist victory in the Chinese civil war, most particularly in China’s north-eastern provinces. He was the general who led the People’s Liberation Army into Beijing in 1949. He largely stayed away from front-line politics until the Cultural Revolution when he rose to become second-in-charge and Mao Zedong’s designated and constitutional successor.

He died in a plane crash in September 1971 in Mongolia after what appeared to be a failed coup to remove Mao. He was posthumously condemned as a traitor.

The item is in fine condition with cracks, chips or repairs. The base is unmarked.

UK art market