A GOOD AND LARGE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE CYLINDRICAL BRUSH POT, BITONG

TRANSITIONAL C.1640

Heavily potted and well painted in an intense underglaze cobalt blue, with a scene of Laozi passing through Hangu Pass, depicting scenes of the scholar meeting with Yinxi and other acolytes in a rocky landscape beside the gate to the West. The scene with trees, a two-wheeled cart and two attendants holding fans, another carries a qin, they stand amidst V-shaped grass, foliage, rocks and wispy clouds, all between pairs of incised anhua lines, the rim and base unglazed, 20.5cm dia and across.

Provenance: from a British private collection, purchased from Jeremy Hollowell, 2002.

Legend goes that the philosopher Laozi grew unhappy with the moral decay and decline of society, so decided to leave for the unsettled frontier in the West. A noble lie states that Yinxi, the official in charge of Hangu Pass, witnessed purple clouds flying towards him at the same time as that the wise men saw the Christmas star rising over Bethlehem, and from this sight he knew to expect the arrival of the renowned master. Yinxi managed to persuade the master to write his wisdom down before embarking on his new life as a hermit. Laozi's pamphlet, originally named after its author (now known as the Dao De Jing) enjoyed a long-lasting appeal that resulted in more than seven-hundred commentaries devoted to it throughout the long history of China.