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Lot Essay
The present washer belongs to the celebrated group of peachbloom-glazed vessels made for the scholar’s desk during the Kangxi period, traditionally known as the ba da ma, or “Eight Great Numbers.” Comprising eight distinct forms, this group represents one of the most refined achievements of monochrome porcelain produced under the Kangxi Emperor. A complete set of eight peachbloom-glazed vessels in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, including a washer of this type, is illustrated by S. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 237. For three other of of the eight shapes in the catalogue see lots 1018, 1019, 1020.
This form of brush washer is commonly described as tangluo xi, or “gong-form washer,” in reference to its broad, compressed body, which recalls the shallow profile of a Chinese gong. The modest and perfectly balanced shape was ideally suited to the scholar’s table, where such vessels would have been used for rinsing brushes during the practice of calligraphy or painting. Closely related Kangxi-period peachbloom brush washers are illustrated by S. Jenyns in Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1904, pl. 7, fig. 1; M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain, Fribourg, 1986, pl. 98. Peachbloom brush washers have also appeared at auction, including one from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 636, and another formerly in the Mary Stillman Harkness (1874-1952) Collection, sold in Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 914.
This form of brush washer is commonly described as tangluo xi, or “gong-form washer,” in reference to its broad, compressed body, which recalls the shallow profile of a Chinese gong. The modest and perfectly balanced shape was ideally suited to the scholar’s table, where such vessels would have been used for rinsing brushes during the practice of calligraphy or painting. Closely related Kangxi-period peachbloom brush washers are illustrated by S. Jenyns in Later Chinese Porcelain, London, 1904, pl. 7, fig. 1; M. Beurdeley and G. Raindre, Qing Porcelain, Fribourg, 1986, pl. 98. Peachbloom brush washers have also appeared at auction, including one from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 19 March 2008, lot 636, and another formerly in the Mary Stillman Harkness (1874-1952) Collection, sold in Collected in America: Chinese Ceramics from The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Christie’s New York, 15 September 2016, lot 914.