Rare et important pot à pinceaux en jade vert épinard sculpté, bitong. Chine, Dynastie Qing, XVIIIème-XIXèmr diècle. Photo: Christie's Images Ltd., 2010

De forme cylindrique, l'extérieur orné d'une scène continue représentant des lettrés accompagnés de serviteurs dans un paysage rocailleux agrémenté de pins, saule, bambous et arbustes divers, une rivière traversant ce décor; les lettrés répartis en petits groupes: certains calligraphiant, assis autour d'une table, d'autres jouant de la musique, d'autres encore se promenant, l'un assis sur un trône en racine; l'un des rochers portant une inscription à quatre caractères incisés Xi Yuan Ya Ji ('Assemblée de Lettrés distingués dans le Jardin de l'Ouest'); la base portant des craquelures incisées imitant des veines rocailleuses; la bordure du col rehaussée d'une longue inscription incisée Zhuxian gaozhi yao kanxiang, erli fengliu jin kexun. Yili xianyuan hui bincong, shenghua dishi dao rujin. Qianlong wuchen meng qiuyue shanghuan yuti ('De tous ces sages distingués, le noble caractère, se contemple de loin. De près se découvre le talent remarquable des deux Li. Dans ce jardin plein de sérénité l'hôte à ses invités s'est joint. Leurs voix éclatantes résonnent encore aujourd'hui. Inscrit dans les dix premiers jours du premier mois de l'automne, année Wuchen (1748) par l'Empereur Qianlong'), terminée par un cachet huixin buyuan ('La Communion des Esprits Nobles ne disparaît jamais')
Hauteur: 21 cm. (8¼ in.), Diamètre: 21,5 cm. (8½ in.) - Est. €150,000 - €200,000. Price Realized €3,313,000

Provenance: From the collection of Charles Gaillart de Blairville (born 1821) and then by descent to the present owner, a member of an aristocratic family from the north of France

Charles Gaillart de Blairville was born 21 February 1821 in La Beuvrière near Béthune. After studying at the Ecole Polytechnique, he began a carrer in the army and participated in the military expedition to China from October 1859 to January 1862.

As a commander of the Pontoneers (the army division responsible for the construction of bridges), he built a bridge on the river Pei Ho. He was also responsible for the artillery park and assisted in supplying provisions and arms to the French army during its march to Beijing.
He described his time in China to the Emperor in a letter dated 2 May 1862 kept in the Army archives in Vincennes. A copy of this letter can be provided to the purchaser of this lot.

Notes: The present brushpot bears an inscription incised on a rockwork and which gives the title of the scene depicted: Xi Yuan Ya Ji ('The Gathering of Scholars in the Western Garden').
The top of the mouth rim is inscribed with a 39-character imperial poem, dated to the first 10 days of the first month of Autumn of the wuchen year of the Qianlong reign (corresponding to 1748), and with his seal Huixin Buyuan ('The communion of Noble Spirits never disapears').
The inscription can be translated as follow:
'The Noble character of all these wisemen may be contemplated from afar. Upon reflexion, one discovers the remarkable talent of the two Li. In this serene garden, the host and his guests become one. Their clear voices echo eternally'

Xi Yuan (The Western Garden) was the residence of Wang Gao, a high- ranking official and son-in-law of the Emperor during the Northern Song dynasty. One day, at the beginning of the Yuanfeng era, under Shenzong reign (Song dynasty), Wang Gao gathered together the most brilliant minds of the time: Su Shi, Su Zhe, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, Cai Zhao, Li Zhiyi, Li Gonglin, Chao Buzhi, Zhang Lai, Qin Guan, Liu Jing, Chen Jingyuan, Wang Qinchen, Zheng Jiahui and the monk, Master Yuantong. These renowned painters, calligraphers and scholars came to his garden to exchange opinions and demonstrate their talents.
This event was considered the ultimate expression of the 'art de vivre' which perfectly assimilated intellectual excellence and aesthetic beauty.

The two Li mentioned by the Emperor Qianlong in his poem refer to the poet Li Zhiyi and the painter Li Gonglin from the Song dynasty.

This poem originates from the colophon of the painting entitled Xi Yuan Ya Li by Ding Guanpeng. It is also listed in the 'Anthology of Imperial Qing Gaozong (Emperor Qianlong) poems', Volume II, Part 5. See Qinggaozong yuzhishiji erji juanwu, in the collection of Wenyuange Sikuquanshu, ed., Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, Taipei, 1986.

Brushpots of this large size would undoubtedly have been used to keep varied scholars objects including brushes, ruyi and scrolls.
The present lot refers to a group of spinach jade brushpots carved with scenes of scholars and immortals in landscapes, and with the title of the scene incised on rockwork and an imperial poem around the top of the mouth rim. Two examples were sold at Sotheby's New York, 19 March 2007, lot 50 and at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25 April 2004, lot 12. A spinach jade brushpot from this group, entitled Zhu Xi liu yi and with a poem written in the Spring of the yimao year of Qianlong's reign, is in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Jadeware (III) - The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Hong Kong, 1995, pl. 169. Two other spinach jade brushpots from this group are in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, included in the exhibition The Refined Taste of the Emperor: Special Exhibition of Archaic and Pictorial Jades of the Ch'ing Court, Taiwan, 1997, illustrated in the Catalogue, nos. 55 and 56; and another is included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Chinese Government Exhibits for the International Exhibition of Chinese Art in London, Vol. IV, Miscellaneous, 1936, no. 43.

Cf. other similar brushpots without inscriptions, such as the one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated op. cit., 1995, pl. 170; and a spinach jade chrysanthemum-shaped dish inscribed with the poem, Fan tong xian lu, from the Beijing Palace Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo Yuqi Quanji, vol. 6, no. 74.

Christie's. Art d'Asie, 15 December 2010, Paris www.christies.com