Five Blessings or Happinesses

The Chinese word fu translates as ‘blessing” or “happiness” and is everything auspicious. The Five Blessings or Happinesses (wufu) is the Chinese ideal life that includes longevity (寿), wealth (富), health (康宁), a love of virtue (修好德), and a peaceful death in old age (考 终命). Although marital happiness and producing a male to carry on the family name are also considered important blessings, they are not part of fu. The five (wu) wishes for blessings (fu) may also be represented by five bats (wufu) that is a Chinese homophone with fu as are plum blossoms as they have five petals seen as a symbol of the Five Blessings. Five bats represent good luck and are also a symbol of the Five Blessings or Happinesses.

Showing 1–12 of 24 results

  • Antique Attendant with Marriage Inscription, China (16260ZOK) $485

    $485.00
    H: 7.5”  W: 3”  D: 2.75” | FREE SHIPPING!

    This precious finely-carved diminutive figurine is an enlightened Buddhist attendant who stands on a double lotus base used only for enlightened beings as part of an array of images to bless the family for a special occasion – the marriage of a son or daughter as indicated by the inscription on the back. With hands in reverence her eyes glance down down modestly with dellight for the figure she attends and the joyous occasion .  The skillful modeling of the image and the detailed inscription make this a very special piece.

     

  • Antique Carved Jewelry Box with Auspicious Symbols, China (16000TRK) $325

    $325.00
    H: 6.375″  W: 10.75″  D: 7.125″ FREE SHIPPING!

    This charming carved and lacquered multi-use box opens from the top and has a side drawer with a metal pull. It decorated with auspicious carved symbols as wishes for a good, healthy, prosperous and long life  Carved fu lion heads with flowing manes adorn the front and plum blossoms and a fan adorn the front and frame.  Painted calligraphic poetic phrases refer to a wish for many sons. It probably was a wedding gift to newly weds and would still be great for that purpose.

  • Antique Carved Standing Ancestor Official, China (18017ESK) $425

    $425.00
    Ht: 8.25″  W: 3″  D: 2.125″ | FREE SHIPPING!

    Dressed in a red robe with a high neck collar, extremely wide sleeves extending below the knees and a belt around his waist, this ancestor figure portrayed as a civilian official standing on a rectangular base with hands together wearing a long civil official’s robe that extends to his shoes but has no rank badge indicated.

  • Antique Carved Sweetmeat Confection Mold, China (3214A-BKE)

    $475.00
    H: 5.625″  W: 27.875″  D: 9.75″ | FOR SHIPPING INFORMATION CONTACT US AT 213-568-3030

    This exceptionally crafted and beautiful footed confection mould  was most probably a marriage gift from a wealthy family to the newly wed as seen its symbols.  It is elaborated and ornately decorated in vibrant reds and gilt with many auspicious symbols for fidelity, fertility and happiness with lotuses and pods filled with seeds, bats, paired fish and intertwined vines. 

     

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  • Antique Civilian Official Ancestor Figure, China (16848BEM) $395

    $395.00
    H: 13.75″  W: 5.25″  D: 4″ | FREE SHIPPING!

    This ancestor figure, carved in boxwood the preferred wood softwood during the Qing Dynasty, is portrayed in the characteristic pose of a Chinese civilian official, grasping his official’s belt with his right hand to demonstrate his important stature – which was really not so important for this gentleman, given his humble seating furniture and his modest attire. His right hand rests on the his knee as he sits erect on a thick low-back pedestal. Unlike many officials who are serious, this one is more approachable, with simple deeply carved smiling features, high arching brows and a black painted mustache and beard.

     

  • Antique Jewelry Box with Auspicious Symbols, China (16782BKE) $385

    $385.00

    H: 8.5″   W: 15″  D:5″. Shipping Quote Required.  Call 213-568-3030

    This vibrant jewelry box containing five draws with tear drop pulls is decorated with well recognized auspicious symbols to bring blessings and good luck to its fortunate female owner: red, the color of “fu” symbolizes blessings for a virtuous and blissful life; the carved young women on the doors holding lotus stems symbolize beauty and purity; and the five bats surrounding a longevity character on the top mean ““May you have a harmonious marriage with the Five Blessings.” With its propitious meanings, this charming box was probably a wedding gift for the optimistic bride.

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  • Antique Ladies Vanity Cabinet with Elaborate Carving (16442LMK) $695

    $695.00
    Ht: 20.75”  W:  19.125”  D: 11” | FOR SHIPPING INFORMATION CONTACT US AT 213-568-3030

    This very fine ladies vanity cabinet is covered with red lacquer, the color of blessings (fu), highlighted with gold and deeply carved and painted decorations of auspicious symbols to bring happiness, good fortune, long life and many sons to the elite couple who may have received it as a wedding gift by parents in hopes of them successfully carrying on the family tradition.  This is a reflection of the Confucian belief having sons to carry on the family name is essential to real happiness.

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  • Antique Low Lacquered Wood Table, China (16005LMK) $595

    $595.00
    H: 5.625″  W: 27.875″  D: 9.75″ | FOR SHIPPING INFORMATION CONTACT US AT 213-568-3030

    This charming small antique wood cabinet has two intricately carved drawers for storage and was probably made from elmwood.  Its low profile and fine lacquered finish add warmth and a touch of antique fine craftsmanship lends itself to a multitude of uses in any setting.  Auspicious symbols to bring blessings of fu carved on it include peonies and vines surrounding the butterfly pull, plum blossom and a Japanese lily on the left. The two sides have inset panel with florals and the bottom of the three sides has a decorative apron with fretwork vine design. It is covered with a warm patina which extends to the detailed brass butterfly handles. The drawers have marvelous carved wood designs.

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  • Antique Miniature Gilt Cabinet with Side Carving, China (19223BAK) $435

    $435.00
    H: 15.25”  W: 11.125”  D: 4.875” | FOR SHIPPING INFORMATION CONTACT US AT 213-568-3030

    This cabinet painted in auspicious red and gilt with block feet and a scalloped apron is especially charming with front door panels decorated with raised rectangular registers bordered in black and gilt and a bottom drawer with original metal pulls decorated with painted florals. The ornate side panel has two small and one large deeply carved registers:  the bottom two registers have floral images: one has a peony, and the other is a couple under a willow tree.

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  • Antique Miniature Home Altar With Guanyin Panel, China (19433BCK) $485

    $485.00
    H: 9”  W: 18.5”  D: 5.875” | FOR SHIPPING INFORMATION CONTACT US AT 213-568-3030

    As a wish for a prosperous and healthy family with many sons, this small table elegant probably was in a young couple’s bedroom to hold small personal statues and store precious items. Guanyin sits a hǒu holding lotuses in the right panel and the left has fertility symbols rats with melons.  It. is perfect for creating a personal home altar and a unique wedding gift.

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  • Antique Official in Red Robes with a Hu Tablet, China (16851BOK)

    $875.00
    H: 15.5:  W: 6.125″  D: 4.125″ | free shipping!

    This fine ancestor figure portrayed as a Chinese official with many indications of his high status. He sits on a backless chair upon a high decorative pedestal upon which his feet rest and . He wears officials attire: a futou cap and high collared red robe with double belt extending to his shoes. He sits in a formal pose with hands on his thighs holding a long slender  hu tablet. His facial hairs indicate a mustache and beard, now partially lost, on his gilt colored face.

     

  • Antique Pair of Double Happiness Oil Lamps, China (16915BAE) $295

    $295.00
    H: 9.5″  W: 5.25″  D” 3.5″ | FREE SHIPPING

    Each of the antique carved wood oil lamps of this pair is filled with auspicious symbols to bring health, wealth and happiness to its owner – both in the past and in the present. Their vertical shafts are composed of stylized double happiness characters mounted on a rounded stand on four feet. Painted in gold and red for good luck, their articulated decorative rectangular tops are covered with carved lozenge designs and five-leaf plum blossoms on each side.

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