YONGZHENG or QIANLONG c.1730 – 1745 Chinese Taste Porcelain
An 18th Century Famille Rose Porcelain Brushpot, Yongzheng or Early Qianlong c.1730-1745. Decorated to Simulate a Bamboo Brushpot with Stone Panels. Later Fitted Wood Stand.
SOLD
- Condition
- Good, some fritting (enamel loss) to the simulate bamboo edges.
- Size
- Height : 13.5 cm (5 1/4 inches)
- Provenance
- N/A
- Stock number
- 22949
Photos
Information
Brushpots, Bitong :
Bitong, brushpots are not found in 17th or early 18th century European inventories unlike some other ceramic forms which fore fill a specific Chinese function. Blanc de chine `libation cups`, were for example, were made for drinking wine in China but they were imported in large numbers into the West. There curious forms appealed to Western tastes and were used in European displays or converted with the addition of a gilt bronze handle to become a bonbon dishes. Brushpots on the other hand seem to have been made exclusively for the Chinese domestic market, more specifically for the scholar literati class. Bitong are an essential part of literati`s desk, what is often referred to as a scholars desk. Other scholarly items for the desk might include a brush-rest, inkstone (for grinding the dry ink) a water pot for the water to add to the inkstone, a brushwasher as well as a table screen.