Page 62 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 劙⚳Ernest James Wythes炷1868-1949炸䍵啷炻⼴㕤⭞㕷㳩⁛
ΐ㔎喯⭴㭼炻2012⸜5㚰16㖍炻㉵⑩29嘇
3117
Ernest James Wythes, CBE炷1868-1949炸䁢劙⚳❫岥⃳㕗悉㔁
A SUPERBLY CARVED IMPERIAL WHITE AND 㚫岲≑侭炻℞㵝味⚃⋩ẞ㶭⍲㖑㛇䒟☐䘬䍵啷㚦⛐1935⸜11
RUSSET JADE BRUSH POT 㚰21㖍㕤ΐ㔎Ἓ⢓⼿㉵岋炻夳R. Davids ⍲ Dominic Jellinek叿
2011⸜↢䇰˪Provenance˫炻453枩ˤ
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
㹒㧳復⇍炻↢冒ˬ嗶㹒ᶱ䪹˭ᷳ℠㓭炻㶭Ḧ昮ⷅ㚦䈡䁢⼴侭
The cylindrical brush pot is supported on four ruyi-shaped feet 䈡 ⽉墥娑炻庱㕤˪㶭檀⬿⽉墥娑㔯普˫⽉墥娑⚃普ᷳᷕˤ
and dexterously carved around the exterior with three figures, Ṳ⎘⊿㓭⭖㇨啷㶭Ḧ昮䌱晽嗶㹒ᶱ䪹⚾䫮䫺炻␴䌱晽㹒㧳復
each holding an attribute, including a staff, a ruyi, and a fan, ⇍⚾㍺⯷⌛䁢冯㛔㉵⑩⎴ᷣ柴ᷳ⭖⺟䌱晽喅埻⑩栆炻⍫夳
accompanied by a deer, all set in a picturesque landscape of ˪⭖⺟岒晭Ḷ㶭ẋầ⎌⍲䔓シ䌱☐䈡⯽⚾抬˫炗枩168–169炻
grottoes and waterfall. The stone is of an even pale celadon white ⚾53炻枩204–205炻⚾71ˤ
tone with some milky-white mottling and russet inclusions.
6 ¬ in. (16.7 cm.) diam. 㬌䫮䫺䱦怠⣏⟲䌱㕁墥⯙炻晽ⶍ䱦㸃炻㥳⚾ⶏ⥁炻忳䓐Ḯ䌱
䞛䘬⣑䃞䲳䎮⼑᷎㍉䓐⣂Ⰼ㴖晽㈨㱽冯䂌刚ⶍ喅炻ㆸ≇⛘䆇
HK$18,000,000-25,000,000 US$2,400,000-3,200,000 忈↢ḮṢ攻ẁ⠫ᷳ㘗尉烉⢾⡩㴖晽㜦㝷ṕ况炻曰勱ẁ渧炻
ᶱ侩侭↮䩳㹒㧳冯Ⱡ怲炻℞ᷕḴṢ⚆椾↮⇍炻⼘栗㹒㧳復
PROVENANCE ⇍ᷳᷣ橼炻䁢Ḧ昮㗪㛇暋⼿ᶨ夳䘬Ἓἄˤ⯌℞䫮䫺⸽悐晽
⇣Ⱉ䞛曰剅炻㚜䁢⮹夳ˤ㬌ẞ䫮䫺䘬⯢⮠䡑⣏炻Ⱄ㕤䥩Ṣ
Ernest James Wythes (1868-1949), England, and thence by 㓞啷ᷕ庫⣏䘬ᶨẞˤ栆Ụ䘬䌱晽ⷞ⤪シ嵛䘬䫮䫺⎗⍫侫⊿Ṕ
descent within the family 㓭⭖庫⮷䘬ᶨἳ炻叿抬㕤㓭⭖⌂䈑昊啷㔯䈑䍵⑩ℐ普˪䌱
Sold at Sotheby’s London, 16 May 2012, lot 29 ☐炷ᶳ炸˫炻楁㷗炻1995⸜炻⚾䇰167嘇烊⑰䈡㚤ằ⃟㓞啷
庫⣏䘬ᶨἳ烊T.B. Kitson冲啷ᶨἳ炻䞛䲳庫㖶栗炻⼴㕤2008
Ernest James Wythes, CBE (1868-1949) was a benefactor of the ⸜9㚰17㖍㕤䲸䲬Ἓ⢓⼿㉵岋炻㉵⑩329嘇烊⍲Bishop冲啷ᶨ
churches in Essex, and whose collection of forty lots of Qing porcelain ἳ炻2009⸜9㚰16㖍ⓖ㕤䲸䲬喯⭴㭼炻㉵⑩251嘇ˤ
and some earlier wares were sold at Christie’s London, 21 November
1935, see R. Davids and Dominic Jellinek, Provenance, 2011, p. 453.

The scene depicted on the current brush pot is inspired by ‘Three
laughs at Tiger Brook’, which tells the story of the recluse monk
Huiyuan, who unwittingly crosses the Tiger Brook when sending
Tao Yuanming and Lu Xiujing off after their visit. The same subject
matter can be found on another jade brush pot carved with a Qianlong
imperial poem describing the story in the National Palace Museum,
Taipei, illustrated in The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special
Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of Ch’ing Court, Taipei, 1997,
pp. 168-9, no. 53, and on a white screen, illustrated in ibid, pp. 204-
205, no. 71.

The present brush pot is an excellent example of the best jade
carvings of the 18th century. The composition, comprised of scenes
of immortals in an ethereal landscape deftly demarcated by rocks or
cliffs, elegantly unfolds like a scroll painting when the viewer turns the
brush pot. The lapidary has utilised the material to its best advantage
by leaving some areas unadorned to showcase the evenness of the
material while incorporating the russet inclusions to enhance a sense
of movement.

Only a few other white jade brush pots with similar scenes and raised
ruyi feet are known in international and private collections, and the
present brush pot is amongst the largest in private hands. Compare
to a smaller example in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - 42 - Jadeware
(III), Hong Kong, 1995, pp. 204-5, no. 167; a larger example illustrated
in Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman,
Hong Kong, 1996, no. 112. (19.5 cm. diam.); another of more celadon
tone and heavier mottling, from the collection of T.B. Kitson, sold at
Christie’s New York, 17 September 2008, lot 329; and a fourth example
formerly in the collection of Heber R. Bishop, sold at Sotheby’s New
York, 16 September 2009, lot 251.

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