A YIXING PEACH-STONE SHAPED BRUSH WASHER

DATED BY INSCRIPTION TO GENGZI YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1840 or 1900

Details

A YIXING PEACH-STONE SHAPED BRUSH WASHER
DATED BY INSCRIPTION TO GENGZI YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1840 or 1900
The exterior of the washer is deeply scored in imitation of a halved peach stone. The flat mouth rim is inscribed with a cyclical date, gengzi year, corresponding to 1840 or 1900, a signature, Aixian laoren ('old man who enjoys leisure'), and an inscription, Xiwangmu ci Han Wu tao Xuanhedian ('Xiwangmu bestows a peach upon the emperor Wudi of the Han dynasty'). The unglazed body is of dark brown color in contrast to the interior, which is covered in a Jun-type glaze of milky grey-blue color.
7 ½ in. (19.3 cm.) wide, wood stand, Japanese wood box

Brought to you by

Michael Bass

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

Aixian laoren ('old man who enjoys leisure') appears to be a pottery artist active during the Wanli and Jiajing periods, but works that bear his signature were also found on later works during the Qing dynasty. Compare the very similar Yixing peach stone-form cup, of smaller size, (10.1 cm. long), also with glazed interior and with an identical inscription and an Aixian laoren signature, in the Percival David Collection, illustrated in Ru, Guan, Jun, Guangdong and Yixing Wares, rev. ed., 1999, no. A84, and col. pl. p. 4. The entry notes that the inscription on the rim is in three different scripts, and provides a translation of the inscription. The cup is dated probably Kangxi period. The entry also notes that the same inscription appears on a late Ming ceramic object and a jade object depicted in the Gu yu tu pu.

More from Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art part I

View All