Page 70 - Bonhams UK Marsh Collection Art for the Literati November 2, 2022

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A RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'SAAGATA' Provenance: Saagata is the Tibetan name of the Arhat
SLEEVE VASE William James, prior to 1905 (a photograph of Shajiatuo (莎伽陀). Numbered 239 out of the
Chongzhen circa 1905 illustrated in Country Life). 500 arhats, he was known for his fondness
The tall elegantly potted cylindrical vessel Christie's South Kensington, 15 December for liquor. However, before inebriation he
brilliantly painted around the exterior in vibrant 2016, lot 120 was said to be powerful enough to subdue
tones of cobalt-blue with a continuous scene a dragon. His story is documented in the
of an Arhat in cascading robes holding a staff Published and Illustrated: Upasakasilasutra 'Sutra of the Upasaka
with concerned expression beneath long C.Aslet, 'West Dean Park, Sussex - II', Precepts' (優婆塞戒經) no.5, the fifth precept
eyebrows and wrinkled brow, gazing at a boy- Country Life, 29 October 1981, p.1462, fig.1. prohibiting intoxication through alcohol.
attendant carrying a meditation mat through According to the legend, after subduing a
a pole, both facing an elderly woman carrying 來源： dragon, the people were grateful to Saagata
a large jar with cracked-ice glaze, all amidst William James, 1905年前入藏（《Country and a poor woman who respected him greatly
plantain, craggy rocks and billowing clouds, Life》雜志刊有一約攝于1905年的舊照） offered him wine. Saagata became drunk and
all between finely incised scroll borders at the 佳士得肯辛頓，2016年12月15日，拍品120 fell to the ground near the gate of the temple.
foot and shoulder, pendant plantain-leaves Buddha and Ananda walked by and noticed
beneath the mouth. Saagata on the floor, and thereupon forbade
47cm (18 1/2in) high. all Buddhist disciples from consuming alcohol.
£30,000 - 50,000 In the context of late Ming culture, when
CNY240,000 - 410,000 'passion' (qing 情) and 'obsession' (pi
癖): unswerving commitment and genuine
明崇禎 青花「莎伽陀」筒瓶 fondness towards something was celebrated,
the depiction of Sagataa's fondness for
alcohol would have been less a genuine
condemnation, and more a tacit nod of
his affable humanity. Late Ming attitudes
towards Saagata therefore, would not be
unlike an Elizabethan audience's attitudes
to Shakespeare's larger-than life character
Falstaff: a rogue, yet loved by all. The literati's
approval of certain elegant 'vices' can be seen
in the famous late Ming scholar Zhang Dai's
張岱 (1599-1684) writings:

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
70 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.