A CHINESE 'SHI SOU' SILVER INLAID BRONZE BRUSH REST AND A BRUSH WASHER

18TH CENTURY

The brush rest formed as a mountain range with five peaks, decorated to one side with a bat amongst swirling clouds, the brush washer with a compressed body, decorated with a geometric band and small circles encircling the rim, each with a mark reading Shi Sou, with paper labels for the Prof and Mrs P H Plesch Collections, nos.BM9A and Bh8A, 8.6cm and 7.7cm, 125g and 193g. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Professor Peter Hariolf Plesch (14th February 1918-5th March 2013) and Gerta Regina "Traudi" Plesch OBE (4th December 1921-10th August 2013), collection nos.BM9A and Bh8A. The brush washer purchased from Ushida Woodblock Printing Co, Kyoto in October 1967. The brush rest bought in Cat Street, Hong Kong.

Exhibited: the brush washer exhibited in the Oriental Ceramic Society's exhibition The Chinese Scholar's Desk, 17th to 18th century, the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1st October-31st October 1979, no.32.

Cf. R Kerr, Later Chinese Bronzes, pp.64-65, no.50 and P Moss, In Scholar's Taste, p.214, no.150 for comparable brush rests.

Peter and Traudi were important collectors of Chinese, Japanese and Korean Art. Their vast collection grew exponentially after their wedding in 1963 and also included many examples of Chinese, Roman and English glass, thus reflecting their eclectic taste. Peter and Traudi both came to the UK after fleeing the rise of Nazism in the 1930s. Peter left Berlin in 1933 with his father Janos Plesch, Albert Einstein’s personal doctor and friend. Traudi emigrated from Vienna with her family in 1938. Peter became Professor of Chemistry at Keele University and gained international recognition for his lifelong studies of cationic polymerisation, publishing several books and more than 150 research papers, the last just after his 90^th birthday. Traudi received her OBE in 2000 for charitable services to the community in Staffordshire. In March 1959 at Sotheby’s London, Peter purchased a Ruyao narcissus bowl for £2,200 against the dealer J T Tai. It was reoffered at the same saleroom in February 1970 where it sold for £46,000 and subsequently made the front page of a UK national newspaper. On both occasions the hammer price entered the Guinness Book of Records as the highest price ever paid for any ceramic. Several pieces from the collection were lent to Oriental Ceramic Society exhibitions, including this bowl in 1960. Peter published many articles relating to Asian arts, bringing his own scientific approach to collecting, including formulating a new cataloguing system. Peter and Traudi’s collection was admired by many fellow collectors and academics. Their passion for the collection was matched by the enthusiasm of their guests, and they were known to be very welcoming to all visitors.