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Lot Essay
This rare and delicately painted brush stand demonstrates an important stage in the development of bird on branch and bird and flower painting styles on porcelain. Well-painted, large-scale, bird and fruiting branch designs are well-known on vessels such as large dishes from the Xuande reign - see for example the parrot and peach dish and the magpie and persimmon sherd excavated at Jingdezhen and illustrated in Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, Chang Foundation, Taipei, 1998, p. 80, no. 77 and p.122, no. F.16 respectively. Naturalistic painting of birds among trees and on branches on smaller-scale objects from the Xuande reign did not come to light until relatively recently, seen on imperial cricket jars excavated at Jingdezhen and illustrated in Xuande Imperial Porcelain excavated at Jingdezhen, op. cit. pp. 71-74, nos. 61-63 and 65. These cricket jars are painted in typical Xuande style using bold 'heaped and piled' blue tones.
It is probably the style typified by the depiction of birds perched on a cherry branch on the cricket jar p. 74, no. 65, that most greatly influenced the style which developed in the Chenghua reign. Chenghua versions of this bird on branch theme can be seen on a small stem cup decorated in doucai technique, and a small bowl with underglaze blue decoration, the former showing birds in a peach tree, and the latter birds in a pomegranate tree, excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at Jingdezhen and illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua, Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 300-1, no. C106, and pp. 204-5, no. C58, respectively. A box excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at Jingdezhen is illustrated in the same volume, pp. 182-3, no. C47. The cover of this box, which would have been decorated in doucai style, has a decoration of birds, flowers and butterflies. The inclusion of butterflies or other insects, like those seen on the current brush stand, seems to have become part of the repertoire of this theme in the late Chenghua reign. The painting technique seen on the brush stand is most closely associated with that seen on small dishes, which have been excavated at Jingdezhen and of which there is an example in the Shanghai Museum illustrated by Wang Qing-zheng in Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 123, no. 99.
The appearance of the peacock and peahen on the front of this brush stand is interesting, since the majority of the pieces decorated with this motif in the mid-15th century are larger vessels with bold painting style, such as the meiping illustrated by Wang Qing-zheng in Underglaze Blue and Red, op. cit., no. 86. The current brush stand with its delicate painting style represents an important stage between these larger mid-15th century pieces and the smaller-scale depiction of this motif in the 16th century.
It is probably the style typified by the depiction of birds perched on a cherry branch on the cricket jar p. 74, no. 65, that most greatly influenced the style which developed in the Chenghua reign. Chenghua versions of this bird on branch theme can be seen on a small stem cup decorated in doucai technique, and a small bowl with underglaze blue decoration, the former showing birds in a peach tree, and the latter birds in a pomegranate tree, excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at Jingdezhen and illustrated in A Legacy of Chenghua, Tsui Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1993, pp. 300-1, no. C106, and pp. 204-5, no. C58, respectively. A box excavated from the late Chenghua stratum at Jingdezhen is illustrated in the same volume, pp. 182-3, no. C47. The cover of this box, which would have been decorated in doucai style, has a decoration of birds, flowers and butterflies. The inclusion of butterflies or other insects, like those seen on the current brush stand, seems to have become part of the repertoire of this theme in the late Chenghua reign. The painting technique seen on the brush stand is most closely associated with that seen on small dishes, which have been excavated at Jingdezhen and of which there is an example in the Shanghai Museum illustrated by Wang Qing-zheng in Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1993, p. 123, no. 99.
The appearance of the peacock and peahen on the front of this brush stand is interesting, since the majority of the pieces decorated with this motif in the mid-15th century are larger vessels with bold painting style, such as the meiping illustrated by Wang Qing-zheng in Underglaze Blue and Red, op. cit., no. 86. The current brush stand with its delicate painting style represents an important stage between these larger mid-15th century pieces and the smaller-scale depiction of this motif in the 16th century.