EARLY KANGXI PERIOD, CIRCA 1670

Details

A RARE BLUE AND WHITE BRUSHPOT, BITONG
EARLY KANGXI PERIOD, CIRCA 1670
Finely and unusually decorated with a scene of court ladies training for mounted combat overseen by an official standing beneath an umbrella, his arms raised and holding a fan in his right hand as he urges them on in their efforts, all between decorative borders at the rims, raised on a channeled foot encircling the countersunk base
7¾ in. (19.7 cm.) diam.

Lot Essay

This unusual scene may derive from the Yang Jia Jiang (The Generals of the Yang Family) written by Yong Damu during the Ming dynasty. The scene depicts a Northern Song story of women of the Yang family training for mounted combat against Liao dynasty invaders from Manchuria, as the male members of the Yang family had been killed in earlier battles. Emphasizing loyalty and sacrifice, the subject matter was an illustration of the Kangxi emperor's use of historical scenes as political propaganda to consolidate his Manchu dynasty power base. A large blue and white baluster vase decorated with this scene is illustrated in The Taft Museum: Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 1995, pp. 586-7, no. 1931.138.

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