Lot 85: A SMALL BLUE AND WHITE SOFT PASTE 'XIXIANG JI' SEAL PASTE BOX AND COVER 18th century

A SMALL BLUE AND WHITE SOFT PASTE '
XIXIANG JI' SEAL PASTE BOX AND COVER

18th century

Of rounded cylindrical shape and painted in dark tones on the domed cover with a scene from
Xixiang Ji (
Romance of the Western Chamber), a gentleman seated at a moon window and two elegant ladies on a garden terrace outside, the base with an unusual beribboned gathering of objects including a brush, ink cake and
ruyi scepter.


2 3/16in (5.6cm) diam

Generally, in good condition, save for a small star crack to cover interior (not showing to exterior) and a web-like hairline to the box interior rim and a short crack that extends to exterior (.5cm). A few minor kiln bubbles to surface but mostly unobtrusive. Well painted in a vibrant blue cobalt.

十八世紀 漿胎青花「西廂記」人物故事圖印泥蓋盒



Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價




Provenance:

Bequest of William Rhinelander Stewart, 1929

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1929-present




來源：

William Rhinelander Stewart 遺贈，1929 年

大都會藝術博物館，1929 年迄今



The cover depicts a narrative from Scene 13, Book 4 of
Xixiang Ji (
Romance of the Western Chamber). Here, student Zhang plays the
guqin and his lover, Yingying, and her maid, Hongniang, interpret this as his feelings of love towards her. This romantic scene is the highlight of the play. For a larger box and cover from the Shanghai Museum with the same scene depicted, see Sir Michael Butler and Wang Qingzheng,
Seventeenth Century Jingdezhen Porcelain from the Shanghai Museum and the Butler Collections, Beauty's Enchantment, Shanghai, 2006, pp.246-247, no.86; and for a smaller box with a similar scene, see
Illustrated Catalogue of Underglaze Blue and Copper Red Decorated Porcelains in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Section 3, revised edition, London, 2004, p.75, B602.



For a small cylindrical box and cover with a similar scene, also painted with landscapes to the narrow sides, and identified as a depiction of filial piety, see Ming Wilson,
Rare Marks on Chinese Ceramics, a joint exhibition from the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum, November 1998 - May 1999, pp.142-143, no.61, where it is identified as a precious medicine container on account of an inscription in underglaze blue to the base.

This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ¤