KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

The poem inscribed on this brush pot is attributed to the Song dynasty poet Weng Sen, eulogising the pleasure and contentment attained by studying. The Kangxi Emperor was lauded for re-introducing the civil service examination, allowing ethnic Han scholars access to public service, thus neutralising the conflict between the ruling Manchu class and Han population. The copper-red seal found on the brushpot, Xichao chuangu ‘Passing on wisdom of antiquities in the Kangxi reign’, is a reminder of this remarkable achievement of the Emperor. The same red seal can be found on a number of Kangxi-marked brush pot similarly inscribed with poems in underglaze blue, such as an identical brush pot in the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III), Hong Kong, 2010, no. 188 (fig. 1).
Compare also to two other underglaze-blue and copper-red brush pots bearing the same seal and Kangxi reign mark, but with a different poem. The first one is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated ibid., no. 189; the second one is in the National Museum of China, illustrated in the museum’s website.