Page 156 - Sotheby's Asia Week March 2024 Chinee Art

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A LARGE BLUE AND WHITE ‘SEVEN SAGES 明崇禎 青花竹林七賢圖筆筒
OF THE BAMBOO GROVE’ BRUSHPOT, MING
DYNASTY, CHONGZHEN PERIOD
来源：
Height 8⅝ in., 22 cm 購於香港，2000年4月27日
馬錢特，倫敦
PROVENANCE

Acquired in Hong Kong, 27th April 2000.
Marchant, London.
Depicting the Seven Sages leisurely conversing or taking
a stroll amongst a continuous riverscape, the present
brushpot is exquisitely painted, showcasing the masterful
skill of the painter. Delightfully animated, one of the five
seated sages engaged in conversation holds up his fan,
gesturing and speaking while the other four eagerly listen in.
The ‘Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove’ included the seven
scholars Ji Kang, Ruan Ji, Ruan Xian, Xiang Xiu, Liu Ling,
Shan Dao, and Wang Rong. Advocating the Daoist principles
of tranquility, inaction and return to nature, they sought to
distance themselves from worldly concerns, and gathered
amid bamboo groves to engage in literary exchanges and
‘pure’ discussions. Literary gatherings were a popular theme
decorating brushpots of this period, which reflected the
flourishing literati culture of the time.
For brushpots depicting the same subject matter, see one
in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Seventeenth Century
Jingdezhen Porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and Butler
Collections. Beauties Enchantment, Shanghai, 2006, cat.
no. 16; another, in the Sam Marsh Collection, illustrated in
Sam Marsh, Brushpot. A Collector’s View, Hong Kong, 2020,
pp 104-105.
⊖ $ 20,000-30,000

308 SOTHEBY’S COMPLETE CATALOGUING AVAILABLE AT SOTHEBYS.COM/N11410 KANGXI PORCELAIN FROM A BRITISH PRIVATE COLLECTION 309