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Lot Essay
In Chinese art, the representation of monkeys holding a peach is a well known reference to Sun Wukong (Wukong meaning "aware of emptiness"). Born in a stone made of primal chaos, he became a disciple of the patriarch Subhuti with whom he acquired the powers of immortality, shape-changing and cloud-traveling. But Wukong became too proud after learning his new abilities, and began boasting to the other disciples. Subhuti was not happy with this, and they parted ways.
Hoping that a promotion and a title would make him more manageable, the Jade Emperor invited Wukong to the Heavenly Kingdom. However, this proved to be in vain. After the Jade Emperor excluded him from a royal banquet, in an act of rebellion Wukong ate empress Xi Wangmu's "Peaches of Immortality" and Laozi's "Pills of Indestructibility". Finally, the heavenly authorities had no choice but to capture him.
When several execution attempts failed, Wukong was stuffed into Laozi's eight-way trigram cauldron to be distilled into an elixir by the cauldron's sacred flames, which were thought to be hot enough to consume him. After cooking for 49 days, however, the cauldron exploded and Wukong jumped out, stronger than ever. With all their other options exhausted, the Jade Emperor and the authorities of Heaven finally appealed to the Buddha himself, who arrived in an instant from his temple in the West. The Buddha made a bet with Wukong and won. This latter tried to escape but was immediatly imprisoned for five centuries until he offered to serve Xuanzang, the Tang Priest, who was destined to make the journey to the West to retrieve the Buddhist sutras in India.
Such representations of monkey from the Kangxi period are very rare. Only a few other examples appear to be published.
See the aubergine and turquoise-glazed ewer in the Peabody Museum of Salem similarly modelled to the present lot, illustrated by W. Sargent, The Copeland Collection, 1991, no.31, pp. 80 and 81.
See also the yellow-glazed biscuit water-dropper illustrated in M. Beurdeley, L'Amateur Chinois des Han au XXe siècle, Fribourg 1966, p. 253, cat. 172.
Some later models, dated Qianlong period, are recorded. One from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, illustrated in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic society 1963-64, The Oriental Ceramic Society, London 1965, pl.81, no.232 ; a pair of Famille rose monkeys sold in our London Rooms, 2 December 1998, lot 103 ; and another one seated in the exact same position, holding the peach, offered in our Hong Kong Rooms, 1 November 2004, lot 973.
Hoping that a promotion and a title would make him more manageable, the Jade Emperor invited Wukong to the Heavenly Kingdom. However, this proved to be in vain. After the Jade Emperor excluded him from a royal banquet, in an act of rebellion Wukong ate empress Xi Wangmu's "Peaches of Immortality" and Laozi's "Pills of Indestructibility". Finally, the heavenly authorities had no choice but to capture him.
When several execution attempts failed, Wukong was stuffed into Laozi's eight-way trigram cauldron to be distilled into an elixir by the cauldron's sacred flames, which were thought to be hot enough to consume him. After cooking for 49 days, however, the cauldron exploded and Wukong jumped out, stronger than ever. With all their other options exhausted, the Jade Emperor and the authorities of Heaven finally appealed to the Buddha himself, who arrived in an instant from his temple in the West. The Buddha made a bet with Wukong and won. This latter tried to escape but was immediatly imprisoned for five centuries until he offered to serve Xuanzang, the Tang Priest, who was destined to make the journey to the West to retrieve the Buddhist sutras in India.
Such representations of monkey from the Kangxi period are very rare. Only a few other examples appear to be published.
See the aubergine and turquoise-glazed ewer in the Peabody Museum of Salem similarly modelled to the present lot, illustrated by W. Sargent, The Copeland Collection, 1991, no.31, pp. 80 and 81.
See also the yellow-glazed biscuit water-dropper illustrated in M. Beurdeley, L'Amateur Chinois des Han au XXe siècle, Fribourg 1966, p. 253, cat. 172.
Some later models, dated Qianlong period, are recorded. One from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, illustrated in Transactions of the Oriental Ceramic society 1963-64, The Oriental Ceramic Society, London 1965, pl.81, no.232 ; a pair of Famille rose monkeys sold in our London Rooms, 2 December 1998, lot 103 ; and another one seated in the exact same position, holding the peach, offered in our Hong Kong Rooms, 1 November 2004, lot 973.