LARGE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'KING WEN WANG' BRUSH POT
MING DYNASTY, CHONGZHENG PERIOD
Estimate: £20,000 - £30,000
Auction: 08 November 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
明崇禎 青花文王仿賢大筆筒
the cylindrical body finely decorated with a continuous scene of Western Zhou dynasty King Wen Wang, accompanied by two soldiers, visiting Jiang Taigong, the scene set within a lush garden setting with plantains and willows, all between incised bands of foliage and waves, the flat base unglazed
Dimensions
21.8cm high
Provenance
Private collection, acquired from Sotheby's Hong Kong, 18 April 2024, lot 611
私人收藏，購自香港蘇富比，2024年4月18日，拍品611
Footnote
The scene illustrated on the present brush pot is taken from the Western Zhou Dynasty legend of Wen Wang, also known as Emperor Wen (1152-1056 BC). Among the sages he sought to help him rule his kingdom was Jiang Taigong, who had left the service of the Shang king because of his debauchery and corruption. King Wen found Taigong fishing by the Wei River and persuaded him to join his court, appointing him Prime Minister. This story was later adapted and incorporated into the Ming dynasty novel Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods). A comparable large blue and white brush pot (20.5cm high), depicting Emperor Xian and Dong Cheng from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, dated to the Chongzheng period circa 1640, was sold at Christie's New York, 16 Mar 2015, lot 3533.
此筆筒所描繪的場景取自西周時期文王仿賢之典故。姜太公因商紂王暴政年年，辭官隱居。文王在渭水邊發現太公釣魚，訪聘為師。這典故後來被改編並納入明代小說《封神演義》。一件明崇禎（約1640年）青花三國演義人物故事圖筆筒，尺寸與本品相似（高20.5cm），2015年3月16日售於紐約佳士得，拍品3533，可資比較。