Lot 3073. A fine and rare inscribed faux-bois 'Tang Ying' brush pot, seal mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795); 9.2 cm., 3 5/8 in. Estimate 2,500,000 — 3,000,000 HKD. Lot Sold 5,420,000 HKD. Courtesy Sotheby's.

of cylindrical form with a recessed base, the exterior meticulously painted with swirling washes of sepia and grisaille imitating wood, inscribed with a fourteen-character inscription in the style of Tang Ying with three seals on one side pian yue, tao, zu, followed by two characters qin shu ('zither and book') and a four-characters Jian qi shu sheng ('Spirit of the Sword, Sound of the book') with three additional seals ban lu, tao, zu, the interior and base enameled in turquoise, the rim of the mouth further dressed in gilt, the base inscribed with a four-character mark in iron-red.

Note: The poem, by the Southern Song poet Weng Sen, reads and can be translated as follows: 

Hao niao zhitou yi pengyou,
Luo hua shui mian jie wenzhang.

Good birds and tree branches are friends,
Fallen flowers and water surface are essays.

With the refinement of materials and craftsmanship and the expansion of the range of glaze and enamel colours during Qianlong's reign, ceramic potters became highly ambitious in their repertoire. They were encouraged in this by the emperor, who had a taste for ornamentation and the novel. Under the directorship of Tang Ying, Superintendent of the Imperial kilns during the Yongzheng and early-Qianlong periods, porcelain simulations of materials such as wood, lacquer, bronze and marble were produced. Such simulations required skills from the porcelain enameller that were not normally required from a painter and through their expertise humble materials became ennobled through their transformation into porcelain, thus becoming imperial works of art.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, Hong Kong, 08 april 2011