A rare and important iron-red and gilt rouleau vase, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period. Estimate 30,000 — 50,000 USD. Photo Sotheby's.

of cylindrical form, slightly tapering towards the base, the canted shoulders rising to a tall neck with an everted mouth and galleried rim, finely enameled in varying tones of iron red with detailing in green, black and gilt one side depicting the Three Gods (Happiness, Wealth and Longivity) with young boys, the other side with a two-line inscription and three seals, the neck with four varying shou characters in zhuanshu style, the base painted with a single peony blossom in green, yellow and aubergine each petal striated and outlined in black. Height 18 1/4  in., 46.4 cm

Provenance: Private Collection San Francisco.
Sotheby's New York, 19th March 1997, lot 314.
Severin Fayerman (1922-2015), 'Boonecroft' Pennsylvania.
Weisbrod Chinese Art Ltd., New York, 2004.

Exhibition: The Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island, San Francisco, 1939-1940.

Literature: The Fayerman Collection, Boonecroft, Weisbrod Chinese Art Ltd., New York, 2004, cat. no. 13 and illustrated on the cover.

Notes: The inscription may be translated as:

In the time of great prosperity, we forget what to say;
The Three Elders of the Han court came together, correcting the classics

Signature: Master of the Half Window
Seals：Yunshan Cloud Mountain), Zhushi (Bamboo and Stone), Banchuangzhuren (Master of the Half Window)

Building on the late Ming dynasty aristocratic taste for inscriptions on varying types of two dimensional screens, the innovative artisans of Jingdezhen during the late 17th century incorporated calligraphy into the pictorial decoration of three-dimensional porcelain wares. Long considered a significant art form, calligraphy communicates not only through the meaning of the character but also through the gesture used to paint it and the sound it evokes. The addition of inscription on porcelain transformed cylindrical surfaces to three dimensional scrolls infusing them with a rarefied scholarly aura. The creation of these literati-style wares was generated as much by the rise of a wealthy merchant class (many of whom were Ming loyalists with a marked preference for Ming literati themes) as by the dearth of imperial commissions as the Kangxi emperor sought to quell rebellion and assert Manchu authority. The lack of orders from Beijing allowed the most skilled potters and artisans to turn their attention to non-imperial wares. Porcelain forms bearing Bamboo, Wood or Rock studio and seal marks, such as the present vase, emerged and appear to be associated with a particularly high quality of potting, enameling and a painterly style of calligraphy more closely in keeping with literati values. While much research remains to be done on this group of porcelains, a blue and white vase in the Curtis Collection, painted with scenes of Jingdezhen and literati poems bears the mark of the owner of the kiln, Shang Tong; a known historical figure with close ties to literati figures of the era such as Shang Ancun, an official and scholar known to produce paintings for ceramics. For further discussion see Wang Qingzheng, Kangxi Porcelain Ware from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, fig 10, p. XXIX and Wang Qizheng and Sir Michael Butler, Seventeenth Century Jingdezhen Porcelain from thh Shanghai Museum and the Butler Collections, London, pp. 50-54. The large scale and confident inscription on the present vase can be related to a brushpot painted with bamboo and poetic inscription from the palace museum illustrated in China, The Three Emperors 1662-1795, ed. Evelyn S. Rawski and Jessica Rawson, London, 2005, cat. no. 130. 

This present example is unique. Its decoration, being the traditional Three Gods of Happiness, Wealth and Longevity, which in addition to the shou-characters (longevity) suggests that it was a special birthday present. The inscription however conveys a different message. After the fall of the Ming dynasty, Chinese intellectuals were obliged to serve the new Manchu government, but in their hearts they harbored resentment towards the new regime and nostalgia for past dynasties. But censorship was strict, and expressions of political dissatisfaction had to be subtle and concealed. The inscription here can be read at face value, or decoded to reveal a deeper meaning. The term "Three Elders" (San Lao) first appeared in the Book of Rites (Li Ji, written in the 5th century BC). When the Han dynasty was established in 221 BC, the new government summoned all learned elders to the Han court to write down the classical texts that had been destroyed by the Qin dynasty, the legendary burners of books. In the 17th century, the inscription on this piece would have been understood and appreciated by any educated and disaffected Chinese, who regarded themselves as men of virtue of the former dynasty. As the inscription infers, they could meet, but could not speak out; they could only dream of preserving the culture of the past. The poem is signed by the Master of the Half Window. A half-window was an architectural feature of Chinese garden pavilions. Thus, the signature was more than a poetic nom-de-plume; it indicated that the author was from a high social background, and had probably been an official at the court of the previous, Ming, dynasty. Frustrated intellectuals would have felt the kindred spirit in this beautiful, yet bold, inscription. 

Sotheby's. Inscriptions: History as Art New York, 17 mars 2015, 01:30 PM