Lot 50. A blue and white 'eighteen scholars' brushpot, bitong, Kangxi period (1662-1722); 17cm (16 3/4in) high. Sold for £22,500 (€28,790). © Bonhams 2001-2016.

Vibrantly painted with a continuous scene of scholars engaged in various leisurely activities, on a table scholars play a game of chess, while others gather to view a hanging scroll painted with bamboo, another group sit on the ground and listen to the zither, all within a garden setting with rockwork. 

Provenance: a European private collection

Note: Significantly, there are eighteen scholars on the brushpot, most likely representing the famous eighteen scholars of the Zhenguan era (AD627-649) who were brought together under the Tang Emperor Taizong. The motif became popular as an analogy for the mutual respect and dependence between the imperium and the scholar-gentry. Compare with a similar Kangxi brushpot formerly in the Sun Yingzhou collection, illustrated in Sun Yingzhou de taoci shijie, Beijing, 2005, p.161, no.90; and also in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglazed Red (III),, Hong Kong, 2009, p.58, pl.50; for the motif of the eighteen scholars seeibid., p.16, pl.12.

Bonhams. AUCTION 23237: FINE CHINESE ART, LONDON, NEW BOND STREET