£4,800
A RARE FAMILLE VERTE 'FERRYMAN' BITONG KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
康熙五彩”太白醉酒”笔筒
a cylindrical bitong with a slightly convex base, which is unglazed except for the middle and the wide outer band. Decorated in famille verte enamels - on one side the poet Li Bai, leans against a barrel of wine, whilst on the other a ferryman waits in anticipation for his passenger.
12cm high, 10.5cm diam.
NOTE: There is a long and fanciful tradition regarding the death of Li Bai that he drowned after falling from his boat one day whilst drunk, as he tried to embrace the reflection of the moon in the Yangtze River. It maybe to this legend that the scene relates – as the moon is clearly visible and the ferryman waits in his boat.
Li Bai (701 -762) was one of the most important poets of the Tang dynasty – the period often called the “ Golden Age of Chinese Poetry”. About one thousand poems attributable to Li are in existence and have been collected into the important Tang dynasty collection, Heyaue yingling ji, compiled in 753 by Yin Fan. His poems became models for celebrating the pleasures of friendship, solitude and the joys of drinking.
PROVENANCE: Acquired from Guest & Gray, London, 9 January 2004
Well-repaired arc shaped crack with a diameter of approximately 12 cm and apex of 4 cm.
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