A fine and rare pair of blue and white 'Eight Drunken Immortals' cups Seal marks and period of Qianlong | 清乾隆 青花飲中八仙歌詩意圖盃一對 《大清乾隆年製》款

Marchant, London.

馬錢特，倫敦

This pair of cups represents a rare Qianlong version of the topic Yinzhong baxian ge, the Ballad on the Eight Drunken Immortals. Composed by the famous Tang poet Du Fu (712-770), the poem became a popular motif in porcelain especially during the Kangxi reign. Produced in a set of eight, but of more narrow form, Kangxi cups of this design were each painted with one of the Immortals mentioned in the poem and inscribed with the relevant verses. This pair depicts the stories of Zhang Xu (c. 675-750) and Jiao Sui, who, after drinking, could display impressive talent for writing and speaking respectively. The two inscriptions can be translated as:

Zhang Xu is a calligrapher of renown,

Three cups make him the master.

He throws off his cap, baring his pate

Unceremoniously before princes,

And wields his inspired brush, and lo!

Wreaths of cloud roll on the paper.

Jiao Sui, another immortal, elate

After full five jugfuls,

Is eloquent of heroic speech –

The wonder of all the feasting hall.

See blue and white prototypes of this design, but with a narrow mouth and from the Kangxi period: three sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 1st December 2009, lots 1895-7, one of them rendering Jiao Sui, illustrated in Paul Moss, Between Heaven and Earth: Secular and Divine Figural Images in Chinese Paintings and Objects, London, 1988, pl. 40, and previously sold in these rooms, 19th November 1986, lot 227; and another sold at Christie’s Amsterdam, 8th December 1998, lot 283.

Compare also an 18th century rendition of the Ballad on the Eight Drunken Immortals on a pair of chenxiangmu cups offered in this sale, lot 3659, where one is incised with the first line of the inscription about Zhang Xu and the other about Su Jin, another figure from the Eight Immortals.

兩盃題識分別為：「張旭三杯草聖傳，脫帽露頂王公前，揮毫落紙如雲煙」及「焦遂五斗方卓然，高談雄辯驚四筵」。

唐代詩人杜甫（712-770年）之〈飲中八仙歌〉，千古流傳，作為瓷器紋樣題材，尤其盛行於康熙朝，如本品之乾隆例甚是難得。康熙版本，多為一套八杯，杯身直歛，各別繪製詩中仙人一位，另側書相應詩文。此對小盃分別描寫草聖張旭（約675-750年）、焦遂，二仙酒過三巡，雅興大發，展現書藝、辯才，酣然暢意。

參考康熙雛本，盃口較窄：三例售於香港佳士得，2009年12月1日，編號1895-7，其一為焦遂題材，刊於 Paul Moss，《Between Heaven and Earth: Secular and Divine Figural Images in Chinese Paintings and Objects》，倫敦，1988年，圖版40，曾售於香港蘇富比1986年11月19日，編號227；還有一例售於阿姆斯特丹佳士得，1998年12月8日，編號283。

比較本場拍賣一對沉香木雕飲中八仙詩意圖盃，編號3659，款識載述為張旭、蘇晉。