China, 17th century. Finely painted in shades of cobalt blue with a scene depicting the poet Su Shi and his companions seated at a table enjoying wine under the canopy of a sampan as an oarsman at the stern poles the water, one scholar admires a crooked pine tree growing from the vertical cliff ahead, a crane flies above near the moon and a constellation, the other side with a poetic inscription. The broad foot ring left unglazed, encircling the glazed countersunk base, revealing the buff body partially burnt to orange.

Inscriptions: One side with calligraphic inscriptions of Su Shi's Ode to Red Cliffs: 'Continuing the journey from five hundred years ago, the scenery of old with water stretching to the horizon, tonight the moon lingers by the Eastern Mountain, as if it were the same autumn moon that shone on the battle. A visitor arrives at the Red Cliff with freshly caught fish, yet no one brought wine from Huangzhou, our poetry contrasts the silence that fills the riverbank and the thousand mountains a lonely crane crosses the river and passes over our boat.'

Provenance: Dutch trade. Acquired from a private estate.
Condition: Good condition with minor wear and firing irregularities. Minor glaze losses and recesses. Few small chips and minor fritting to the mouth and foot rims. The mouth rim slightly reduced.

Weight: 387.4 g
Dimensions: Height 10.9 cm

The inscription on the present lot is taken from the famous rhapsody Ode to Red Cliffs, composed by the celebrated Northern Song poet, Su Shi (1037-96), to commemorate his boating excursions with friends to the Red Cliff (Chibi) in Hubei province during his political exile. It describes the poet and friends riding on a river beneath the purported site of an important battle in AD 208, between the forces of Northern General Cao Cao and Liu Bei, scion of the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), who dreamt of reuniting China under a reinvigorated Han. Having himself been ousted from political life, Cao's success at the time reminds him of the short-lived nature of great careers and the transience of life.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie's New York, 16 March 2015, lot 3582
Price: USD 8,750 or approx. EUR 10,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A blue and white brush pot, Kangxi period
Expert remark: Compare the closely related waisted form, cobalt-blue decoration, and boating motif. Note the lack of inscription, apocryphal Chenghua mark, and the size (13.3 cm).