A two-sided blue and white rectangular tile, Kangxi period, circa 1700. Estimate $6,000 – $8,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2015

The thick tile is decorated on one side with a scene taken from the Western Zhou dynasty legend of Wen Wang, or King Wen, showing him approaching the scholar Jiang Taigong as he fishes on a riverbank. The reverse is decorated with flowering sprays of morning glory. 10 ¼ in. (26 cm.) wide - Lot 3590

Provenance: Heirloom & Howard, Ltd., London, 1982.
Collection of Juila and John Curtis.

Literature: Julia B. Curtis, 'Markets, Motifs and Seventeenth-Century Porcelain from Jingdezhen', The Porcelains of Jingdezhen, Colloquies on Art & Archaeology in Asia No. 16, London, 1992, p. 131, pl. 8.

Detail.

Notes: The scene illustrated on the present tile is taken from the Western Zhou dynasty legend of Wen Wang, also known as King Wen (1152-1056 BC). Among the sages he sought to help him rule his kingdom was Jiang Taigong, who had left the service of the Shang King because of the latter's debauchery and corruption. King Wen found Jiang Taigong fishing by the Wei River and persuaded him to come back with him and appointed him Prime Minister. This story was later adapted and incorporated into the Ming dynasty novel Fengshen Yanyi (The Investiture of the Gods). For a further discussion of this scene see the introductory essay in this catalogue, p. 30.

Another version of the figural scene can be found on an underglaze blue and copper-red decorated brushpot in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Chen Runmin in Selected Chinese Ceramics from the Palace Museum (Volume 1): Blue and White Ceramics in Shunzhi and Kangxi Periods (Qing Shunzhi Kangxi chao qing hua ci), Beijing, 2005, p. 344, no. 222.

A pair of blue and white porcelain tiles of similar proportions, decorated with scenes from the Xixiangji, was sold at Christie's New York, 16-17 September 2010, lot 1421.

Christie's. AN ERA OF INSPIRATION: 17TH-CENTURY CHINESE PORCELAINS FROM THE COLLECTION OF JULIA AND JOHN CURTIS, 16 March 2015, New York, Rockefeller Plaza.