Page 98 - Bonhams UK Marsh Collection Art for the Literati November 2, 2022

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A RARE CELADON-GROUND BLUE AND WHITE AND Identified by the writing brush held in his raised hand and his iconic
'back-kick' posture, Kui Xing 魁星 ('Chief Star') is a Daoist deity
COPPER-RED GLAZED 'KUI XING' BRUSHPOT, BITONG
Kangxi worshipped to obtain academic success. It would therefore, have been
Finely potted with straight sides rising to a grooved mouth-rim, extremely auspicious for a scholar to have his brushpot decorated
meticulously painted around the exterior with a continuous scene with this figure, to inspire him in his writing and achieve examination
of Kui Xing the Star Lord five times interspersed between square success.
measuring vessels, twice Kui Xing is depicted in one direction and
thrice in the opposite, holding a brush in one hand and a silver ingot in The Chinese character Kui (魁) is composed of the ideograph for
the other, his sinewy body clad in copper-red deer-skin garments and 'demon' (鬼) and the ideograph for 'ladle' (斗). The ladle or 'dipper'
cobalt-blue billowing scarves, in two representations he stands on a (as Kui Xing is also associated with the North Star) is depicted on the
sprig of prunus in white raised slip, all against a celadon-green glaze present lot in the form of a square vessel. Kui Xing is often portrayed
background, the base unglazed save a recessed circle glazed white. with a demonic appearance, a hideous face, a horn-like protuberance
18.2cm (7 1/4in) diam. on his head, and a sinewy body. According to legend, he was once a
mortal scholar with outstanding literary skills but was repeatedly failed
£15,000 - 20,000 in the civil service examinations due to his repulsive appearance. Out
CNY120,000 - 160,000 of frustration and humiliation, Kui Xing threw himself into a river, where
he was saved by a mythical monster called an ao. He then ascended
清康熙 豆青釉青花釉裡紅魁星點斗筆筒 to the Big Dipper and became the stellar patron of the literati and the
God of Literature.
Provenance:
The Wheatley collection, London Dreaming of Kui Xing the night before the exams was considered an
S. Marchant & Son, London, 2 June 1999 auspicious sign and the candidate who obtained the highest results,
known as the First Scholar (zhangyuan), would walk first on a staircase
Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: decorated with the ao mythical beast. Representations of Kui Xing and
S Marchant & Son, Seventeenth-Century Blue and White and Copper- Ao are thus a symbol of literary success and highest achievement at
Red and Their Predecessors, London, 1997, p.58, no.55 the Imperial examinations.
S.Marsh, Brushpots: A Collector's View, Hong Kong, 2020,
pp.190-191 A blue and white and copper-red brushpot with related design of
Kui Xing, Kangxi, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (acc.
來源： no.C.976-1910). See also a doucai brushpot with Kui Xing and prunus,
Wheatley 收藏，倫敦 Kangxi, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
倫敦古董商 S. Marchant & Son，1999年6月2日 Palace Museum: Small Refined Articles of the Study, Shenzhen, 2009,
p.95, no.65.
錄著及展覽：
《S Marchant & Son, Seventeenth-Century Blue and White and Compare with a smaller but related underglaze blue and white-
Copper-Red and Their Predecessors》，倫敦，1997，頁58，編號55 decorated celadon-ground brushpot, Kangxi, which was sold at
S.Marsh，《Brushpots: A Collector's View》，香港，2020， Christie's New York, 21 March 2014, lot 2141.
頁190-191

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