Lot 807. A very rare wucai 'dragon' brush handle, Ming dynasty, Wanli period (1573-1620); 18.5 cm. Lot Sold 3,937,000 HKD (Estimate 1,000,000 - 2,000,000 HKD) © Sotheby's 2025

the long handle decorated in wucai palette with bright underglaze blue and overglaze red, green, yellow and black enamels, depicting two five-clawed dragons in pursuit of a flaming pearl amidst clouds above crashing waves and steep rocks, all below a row of scrolling clouds and a band of ruyi-heads, the terminal adorned with four floral sprays and surmounted by a pointed knop further decorated with a single floret
 

Provenance: Collection of Dr. Carl Kempe (1884-1967).
Eskenazi Ltd, London, 1993.
The Meiyintang Collection.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 5th October 2011, lot 38.
 

Exhibited: Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, British Museum, London, 1994.
Evolution to Perfection. Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, Sporting d'Hiver, Monte Carlo, 1996, cat. no. 135.
 

Literature: Bo Gyllensvärd, Chinese Ceramics in the Carl Kempe Collection, Stockholm, 1964, no. 852.
Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994-2010, no. 708.
 

Note: Produced at the very height of wucai (‘five colour’) decoration, the present brush handle exemplifies the scholarly taste and bold design language of the Wanli reign (1573–1620). Ascending the throne at the age of just ten, the young Wanli Emperor was raised in many ways like any other scholarly child, with a broad education in history, Confucianism and – of course – calligraphy. A contemporary of famed scholar-artists Dong Qichang (1555–1636), Chen Jiru (1558–1639) and Xu Wei (1521–1593), the Wanli Emperor ruled an empire of exceptional calligraphy and brushpainting and, as a result, the imperial kilns saw an ever increasing demand for scholars’ objects to furnish the imperial studios.

Surviving wucai brush handles of this period are extremely rare. A related example of Wanli mark and period in the Palace Museum, Taiwan, is published in Minji meihin zuroku. Kaiseiyō, Ryukeiyō, Manrekiyō [Illustrated catalogue of important Ming porcelains. Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli wares], Tokyo, 1978, pl. 109. Also compare two unmarked blue-and-white brush handles of similar shape and date in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Lu Minghua, Shanghai Bowuguan zangpin yanjiu daxi/Studies of the Shanghai Museum Collections : A Series of Monographs. Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pls. 1-87 and 1-88; and a brush handle and cap of cylindrical form of Wanli mark and period, also sold from the Meiyintang Collection in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 34, alongside a matching brush tray, lot 33.

Sotheby's. Imperial Connoisseurship Treasures of Chinese Art from A Prestigious Collection, Hong Kong, 21 November 2025