Large Chinese Export 20th century Porcelain Fish Bowl, with carved Rosewood stand, together 29" tall. Fish bowl 18"x18"15". Stand 16"x16"x14. Weight 20 pds. PROVENANCE: A Charleston SC Private Collection. **Pickup only or Shipping on furniture offered through the On the Go Transport 843-360-7472, Outward Bound 413-854-3676, The UPS store 843-202-0141 or locally AJ Williams & Sons 843-442-0462. Please contact them or your own choice of shipper directly. *** Sometime during the Jin Dynasty (265-420 AD) the ancient Chinese observed that some of the freshwater carp they were breeding as food fish tended to occasionally display mutated colors ranging from red to orange and yellow. A few centuries later, those living during the artistically inclined Tang Dynasty (618-907) began to develop ornamental water gardens which they stocked with a gold variation of the silver Prussian carp, from which goldfish sprang. In 1162, the then current empress of the Song Dynasty decreed for a special pond to be built and filled with the finest red and gold specimens.Goldfish have also come to symbolize surplus and wealth in Chinese culture. The reason for this association stems from the fact that the Chinese word for fish (yu) is pronounced very similarly (but in a different tone) to the word for wealth. According to the principles of feng shui, even a painting of goldfish is said to bring good fortune to its owner, just like a tank teeming with the real thing.

minor wear