A LARGE BLANC-DE-CHINE LIBATION CUP

Shijie seal mark, Kangxi

Footnotes

清康熙 德化白瓷詩文杯
刻印「石介」

Provenance: Dr Emil Hultmark (1872-1943), Stockholm, and thence by descent

來源： Emil Hultmark博士(1872-1943)，斯德哥爾摩，並由後人保存迄今

Emil Hultmark was an art historian, collector, donor and patron of the arts. He combined important work as an art historian not only with the creation of one of the largest and most remarkable private art collections in Sweden, but also with the construction of an archive of Swedish artists and art craftsmen unparalleled in its extent, together with a library containing almost all that has been written about Swedish art. He loaned to the seminal International Exhibition of Chinese Art, Royal Academy, London, 1935-1936, no less than five objects, Catalogue nos.140, 1872, 1949, 2983 and 2985.

The inscription written in archaistic zhuanshu script on the present lot reads:

庭前芳樹靜，開樽月影低

Which may be translated as:

'In the quiet garden, fragrant trees stand still,
Raising my cup as the moonlight gently spills.'

The couplet closely resembles themes from Fragrant Tree by the Song dynasty poet Wen Tong (文同). His poem also describes a fragrant tree in a courtyard, lush greenery, and scenes of drinking, which align with the imagery of moonlit wine.

Compare with a similar blanc-de-Chine libation cup with inscription, Ming/Qing dynasty, illustrated in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum II, Beijing, 2016, pp.484-485.