Another old pot

Here is another old teapot in my collection. It was purchased in the 80s from an antique shop.

 

The pot depicts longevity fruits/plum (shou tao 壽桃/寿桃  in mandarin) on the cover. These fruits symbolize longevity which often appear in folk art and Chinese paintings where people are happy to be associated with.

Judging by the clay and the design of the pot, it was probably made in the 20th century.

Plum

It was said that the Monkey King (Sun Wukong) once stole a longevity plum meant for the mother of the Celestial Emperor (Jade Emperor) to celebrate her birthday. Anyone ate this fruit would not die. This created havoc in the heavenly palace where the Celestial emperor ordered his guards and other gods to capture the Monkey King. The Monkey King fought intensely with the celestial army and eventually he was trapped/tricked (imprisoned under a mountain that shaped like a fingers) by the great Buddha as he could not slip through his fingers. It was the beginning of the story Journey to the West where a monk released the monkey who later helped the monk (to ward off evil spirits) during his journey to the West to bring back the scriptures for the Emperor.

Story of Monkey King can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong