Page 32 - Imperial Jade Paris June 22, 2017

The continuous scene skilyfully carved around the exterior of 1050 80
this brushpot shows the gathering of ve elderly gentlemen 88
in a secluded landscape setting. The subject commemorates 94 90
the retirement and friendship of ve respected octogenarians 87 1056
in Sui-yang, present day Henan province, and is known as the
‘Five Old Men of Suiyang’. It refers to a painting of the Five Old Peter C Sturman In the Realm of Naturalness
Men of Suiyang (Suiyang wu lao tu), originally painted around
1050 and later divided into ve parts now in Western museum Problems of Self Imaging by the Northern Song Literati
collections. Each features one of these aged honourable
scholar-o cials including Du Yan, who had attained the rank Maxwell K Hearn Judith G Smith Arts of the Sung and
of prime minister, the highest rank among the ve, was just
eighty, Zhu Guan, a native of Suiyang, and the Director of the Yuan 1996 168
Ministry of War, who was eighty-eight, Bi Shichang, Wang Huan
and Feng Ping. Each portrait is followed by numerous admiring
inscriptions and poems by notable scholars of the Northern
Song period, praising the joys of retirement when, free from
the formalities and restraints of the court, these old men could
indulge in the joys of life.

As one of the earliest inscriptions on one of the portrait
notes from the painting notes ‘now with crane-white hair, all
( ve elders) feel ready to prepare the Taoist’s cap. Suddenly
arriving among forests and streams, they are able to let
themselves go; having thrown away their hair clasps and
sashes, they esteem leisure wandering’, see Peter C. Sturman,
‘In the Realm of Naturalness: Problems of Self-Imaging by the
Northern Song Literati.’, in Maxwell K. Hearn and Judith G.
Smith, Arts of the Sung and Yuan, New York, 1996, p. 168.

While the painting adheres in its rendering of the Five Old ు 42
Men to formal portrait paintings, the same scholars on the
present brushpot are shown in a very relaxed and informal 1995 207 208 169
way, clearly showing each of them enjoying themselves in
di erent activities. As such, this brushpot is like a long scroll 2010 12 15 106 Illustrated
with a narrative enfolding around the sides, showing the ve
venerable scholars travelling through the countryside, passing Catalogue of Chinese Government Exhibits for the
a leisurely day of feasting and drinking, enjoying the hidden
delights of forests and streams. International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London

This brushpot belongs to a group of spinach-green jade Miscellaneous 1936 43
brushpots of similarly large size, all carved with scholars and
immortals in landscape settings, several of these titled and
inscribed with a poem by Qianlong emperor. Compare an
example carved with the ‘Six Old Men in Zhu Xi’ (Zhu xi liu yi)
(Fig. 1), in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing,
illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the
Palace Museum, vol. 42, Jadeware, III, Hong Kong, 1995, pp.
207 and 208, pl. 169, which similarly features one scholar
elatedly raising both arms. Yet another brushpot of even
larger size, carved around the body with ‘Gathering of
Scholars in the Western Garden’ (Xi Yuan yaji), was sold at
Christie’s Paris, 15th December 2010, lot 106. Yet another
inscribed example was included in the Illustrated Catalogue of
Chinese Government Exhibits for the International Exhibition of
Chinese Art in London, vol. IV, Miscellaneous, London, 1936,
no. 43.

Fig.1, The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, vol. 42,
Jadeware, III, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 169 © Palace Museum, Beijing

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