Page 63 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art April 3 2018

The present cup is painted with a charming scene of Su Jin,
one of the immortals featured in the famous poem, The Eight
Immortals of the Wine Cup by the eminent Tang dynasty poet
Du Fu (712-770). It depicts Su Jin kneeling in prayer before a
figure of Budai, as recounted in his stanza within the poem:

Su Jin, the religious, cleanses his soul
Before his painted Buddha.
But his long rites must needs be interrupted
As oft he loves to go on a spree.

Although the subjects of this Tang dynasty poem were
contemporaries, fellow scholars and poets, of Du Fu, their elite
literati status elevated them to the immortality of the title. The
poem describes the rambunctious overindulgence of each of
the eight ‘immortals’ as they participate in revelry to escape
from everyday concerns, transcend the material world and
gain entrance to a realm of artistic inspiration.
This poem was illustrated in paintings from at least the Yuan
dynasty (1279-1368), appearing on a handscroll dated to 1363
by Zhang Wo (active c. 1340-1365), and offered at Christie’s
Hong Kong, May 2008, lot 1201. It also featured on porcelain
during the Shunzhi reign (r. 1644-1661), although it was most
popular during the Kangxi reign (r. 1662-1722).
Blue and white versions of the cup, also with Kangxi reign
marks and of the period, include one, from the T. Bushell
collection, sold twice in these rooms, 22nd May 1979, lot 162,
and 19th May 1987, lot 266, from the T.Y. Chao collection, and
a third time at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st December 2009, lot
1895; another sold twice in these rooms, 21st May 1985, lot
110, and 13th November 1990, lot 1, from the Goldschmidt
collection; and a third sold in our New York rooms, 28th
November 1994, lot 334. Compare also a famille-verte version
sold in these rooms, 15th November 1983, lot 296.

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 61