Page 32 - Bonhams Asian Art May2016 UK

63 According to traditional Chinese historiography, the last king of the
A FINELY ENAMELLED FAMILLE VERTE ‘KING WEN AND Shang dynasty was corrupt and cruel. Jiang Ziya had once served the
JIANG ZIYA’ CHARGER king, but was disillusioned and retired to spend the rest of his days
Kangxi fishing, waiting to serve a new and moral ruler. It is said that he used
Skilfully enamelled with a narrative scene with an ancient ruler no hook at all, believing that the fish would come to him on their own.
addressing a scholar sage by a riverside, surrounded with a border
enclosing crustaceans in leaf-shaped cartouches reserved on grass King Wen of Zhou wished to overthrow the Shang, and so sought
diaper with prunus branches. 38.5cm (15 1/8in) diam. talented scholars versed in the arts of war and administration. When
King Wen came to visit Jiang Ziya, much like the aforementioned
£1,500 - 2,000 fish, he discovered that this white haired fisherman was actually an
CNY14,000 - 18,000 astute political thinker and military strategist. He thus appointed Jiang
HK$16,000 - 22,000 Ziya to be his prime minister and gave him the title of ‘Taigongwang’
(Hope of the Duke of Zhou). With Jiang Taigong’s help, the Shang was
The dish depicts a story set in the 12th/11th century BC, in which King overthrown and the Zhou dynasty was firmly established.
Wen of Zhou sought the advice of the hermit scholar Jiang Ziya, later
known as Taigongwang. Such legends from history, of scholars waiting to serve new more
morally upright regimes, would have resonated with the literati class
during the turbulent period of the late Ming to early Qing dynasties.

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