BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN VASE
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
49.8 cm high
The heavily potted vase is of square form tapering towards the foot, the tall body surmounted by a waisted neck with flaring mouth-rim. The exterior is finely painted in underglaze blue with four rectangular panels, each enclosing a narrative scene. One scene shows a scholar and a monk leaving a pavilion with two ladies in the foreground, another of mounted soldiers charging towards each other, one with a lady in front of a pavilion window looking down at a scholar with attendant and another lady, and the fourth panel depicts a man holding a fly-whisk seated opposite a dignitary in front of a screen. The flat shoulder of the vase is decorated with floral motifs and the neck with sprays of bamboo. The flat base with recessed centre is inscribed with a six-character Kangxi mark in underglaze blue.
The four narrative scenes all refer to moments from the Xixiang Ji (西廂記), or 'The Romance of the Western Chamber', written in the Yuan dynasty. This drama tells of the secret love between young scholar Zhang Sheng, and Cui Yingying, daughter of a chief minister. Their union is forbidden because of Zhang's lower status, but with the help of Cui’s maid the two lovers can meet in secret. Once Cui’s mother finds out about the affair, they reluctantly get permission to marry on the condition that Zhang passes the civil service examination.
Square vases of the present type are quite rare as they were challenging to produce and were made during a relatively short period between 1680 and 1700. Compare two square blue and white vases illustrated in Seventeenth Century Chinese Porcelain from the Butler Family Collection, Alexandria, Virginia, 1990, nos.118 and 120.
Provenance:
Formerly in Germany private collection
Sotheby's London, 15 May 2007, lot 68
Formerly in the collection of Sam and Marion Marsh