Like its close relative, the mature long dragon, the chilong is an auspicious emblem that denotes high status and conveys to the viewer every good wish for success and prosperity. Moreover, the Lüshi Chunqiu ????—a text written around 239 B.C. by Lü Buwei ??? (290–235 B.C.) and whose title can be translated as Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn [Annals]—attributes to Confucius (551 B.C. – 479 B.C.) a quote in which he compares long ? “dragons”, chi ? “hornless dragons”, and yu ? “fish” and then likens himself to a hornless dragon ?: “Master Kong [i.e., Confucius] said, ‘The dragon eats and swims in clear water; the hornless dragon eats in clean water but swims in muddy water; fish eat and swim in muddy water. Now, I have not ascended to the level of a dragon, but nor have I descended to that of fish; perhaps I am a hornless dragon!’" (Quotation adapted from John Knoblock and Jeffrey K. Riegel, The Annals of Lü Buwei, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000, p. 505.) This association of Confucius with the chilong assured that creature an elevated status in Chinese mythology as well as an honored place in the repertory of decorative-arts motifs.

Ding vessels with chilong décor may depict the creature singly, as in this brush washer, or paired with other chilong, as noted above. A single chilong may appear against an unembellished background, as witnessed here, or it might be surrounded by scrolling clouds or a lotus arabesque. 

A carved Ding ‘chilong’ washer of similar form and decoration, but of slightly smaller size (12 cm. diam.), in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated by Tsai Meifen, Decorated Porcelains of Dingzhou: White Ding Wares from the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2014, p. 102, no. II-58. The present brush washer’s carved chilong is also close in style to that on the floor of a Northern Song Ding bowl illustrated by Jan Wirgin, Sung Ceramic Designs, London: Han-Shan Tang, 1979—originally published in The Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities Bulletin, no. 42, Stockholm, 1970—n.p., Pl 70b. A Ding dish sold at Christie’s New York, 18–19 September 2014, lot 732, exhibits a carved chilong that resembles the one on this vessel, though it is surrounded by a lotus scroll. A dish with steeply canted side walls and carved chilong-and-cloud décor on its floor is pictured in Guoli Gugong Bowuyuan [National Palace Museum], ed., Gugong Songzi Tulu / Illustrated Catalogue of Sung Dynasty Porcelain in the National Palace Museum, Dingyao – Dingyaoxing / Ding Ware and Ding-type Ware, Tokyo: Gakken, 1973 (bilingual, Chinese and English), np., Pl. 60. For a Ding dish of similar form but decorated with a pair of chilong, see Tsai Meifen, op. cit., no. II-59. 

Like the celebrated Ding 'partridge-feather' conical bowl from the Linyushanren Collection also offered in this sale (lot 506), this brush washer once belonged to distinguished Boston collectors Eugene and Elva Bernat. Active in the mid-twentieth century, Mr. and Mrs. Bernat assembled a comprehensive collection of early Chinese ceramics numbering more than 150 pieces and ranging in date from the Neolithic period through the Song dynasty. Renowned for its Song wares, of which it included more than 100 examples, the Bernat collection claimed numerous masterpieces which were often featured in special exhibitions and illustrated in scholarly books. Eagerly sought by museums and private collectors alike, works from the famous Bernat Collection spread to all parts of the globe when it was dispersed at auction in November 1980. 

Collectors of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties ranked Ding ware among the “five great wares of the Song”, along with Jun, Ru, Guan, and Ge wares. Celebrated for their porcellaneous white wares, the Ding kilns also produced pieces with russet and black glazes, such as the magnificent 'partridge-feather' conical bowl from the Linyushanren Collection also offered in this sale (lot 506). Although not imperial kilns per se—that is, they were not operated by the government and did not produce ceramics exclusively for the imperial household—the Ding kilns nevertheless supplied substantial quantities of ceramic ware to the palace in the late tenth, eleventh, and early twelfth centuries.