Lot 26 A Chinese blue and white circular 'Scholars' brush and ink stand

A Chinese blue and white circular 'Scholars' brush and ink stand

Jiajing/Longqing

未知

€ 8.000 – € 12.000

OH: H. 8,9 cm, Diam. 12,3 cm

未知

Of compressed drum form, the exterior painted in underglaze blue with a continuous mountainous landscape populated by five scholars engaged in leisurely pursuits. One scholar stands holding an unfurled scroll, another leans against a rockwork outcrop reading a book, while two others are seated beside a game board. A fifth figure reclines holding a foliate fan. The scene is enclosed between bands of stylised scrolls and pendent ruyi-head motifs reserved within triangular panels.
The flat upper surface is centred by a raised circular boss decorated with a ruyi-head border and pierced at the centre, surrounded by three circular and one rectangular aperture reserved against a ground of ruyi clouds. The base bears the four-character mark Wan fu you tong ('May Infinite Happiness Gather').
This unusual vessel belongs to the scholar’s studio tradition and functioned as a combined brush and ink holder. The three circular apertures were intended to hold writing brushes upright, while the rectangular opening accommodated a solid ink stick. Such objects formed part of the wenfang sibao (“Four Treasures of the Scholar’s Studio”), the essential implements of Chinese calligraphy and painting, comprising brush, ink, paper and inkstone.
Examples of this form are exceptionally rare. While ingenious in conception, the design appears to have been somewhat impractical in use, as brushes could not always stand securely within the apertures and the retrieval of a progressively shortened ink stick would have become increasingly difficult. The rarity of surviving examples suggests that production was limited, making the present piece a notable and unusual survival from the literati culture of the mid-Ming period.
此器呈扁圓鼓形，外壁以釉下青花通景繪山林高士圖。五位高士徜徉於山水之間：一人手展畫卷，一人倚靠山石讀書，另有二人對坐弈棋，第五人斜倚休憩，手持蕉葉形扇。主景上下分飾變形卷草紋及三角開光內的垂如意雲頭紋。
器面平坦，中央凸起一圓形鈕座，周飾如意雲頭紋，中心開孔，四周另設三個圓孔及一個長方形孔，襯以如意雲紋。底部書 ‘萬福攸同’ 四字款，寓意萬福匯聚、吉祥同享。
此器為罕見的文房用具，兼具筆插與墨插功能。三個圓孔可供插置毛筆，長方形孔則用以放置條形墨錠。此類器物與 ‘文房四寶’ 傳統密切相關，筆、墨、紙、硯既是書寫與繪畫的必備用具，亦構成中國文人書齋生活的重要部分。
同類器傳世極少。其構思雖精巧，實際使用卻可能略有不便：毛筆未必能穩固直立，而墨錠隨使用漸短後亦難以取出。現存例器稀少，推測當時產量有限，因而成為反映明代中期文人生活與文房趣味的一件別致遺存。
Reference:
Comparable examples are in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, object no. B69P44L (link) and in Keramiekmuseum Princessehof, The Netherlands, object no. OKS 1963-002 (link). Another similar example is illustrated in 'Eastern Ceramics and other Works of Art from the Collection of Gerald Reitlinger', Ashmolean Museum, page 24, no. 13.
Provenance:
The Dr. Carew-Shaw Collection.
S. Marchant & Son, London.
The Drs. A. M. Sengers Collection, collection no. 191, acquired from the above in April 1986.
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 19 October 2001 and accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scans)
Exhibited & published:
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, exhibited in their 1978-1979 exhibition 'Asiatische Kunst uit Het Bezit van Leden, 60 years Exhibition', and published in the accompanying catalogue, no. 13:8.
Museum Het Prinsenhof, The Netherlands, exhibited at the loan exhibition 'Schatten uit de Oost of De Kunst van het Verzamelen', at the 42nd Delft Antique Fair in October 1990, 'Eighty Years Chinese Ceramic history in a Dutch Private Porcelain Collection', A4.
The Park Lane Hotel, London, exhibited at the June 2000 Ceramics Fair 'Eighty Years of Chinese Blue and White (c. 1564-1645), the Choice of a Dutch Private Collector' and published in the accompanying catalogue, fig. 7.
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their november 2001 exhibition of 'Ming Blue and White Porcelain. The Drs. A. M. Sengers Collection', and published in the accompanying catalogue, pp. 6-7, no. 4. Also illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', Vol. I, p. 186, fig. 306.