An underglaze blue, copper red and celadon-glazed 'landscape' brushpot, Mark and period of Kangxi | 清康熙 釉裏三彩孤帆獨釣圖筆筒 《大清康熙年製》款

The potter’s ability to successfully fire underglaze blue, copper red and celadon on this brushpot is an exceptional achievement. The design was carved and incised into the body which served both an aesthetic and technical purpose to prevent the pigments from mixing into each other during firing. Copper-red was notoriously difficult to control, thus the addition of celadon glaze adds to the complexity of the firing and the rarity of vessels decorated in this palette.

Related brushpots, also inscribed with Kangxi reign marks and of the period, include one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Gugong cangci / Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Enameled Ware of the Qing Dynasty (Book I), Hong Kong, 1969, pl. 1, where the decoration is referred to as ‘underglaze three-colour’, p. 32; one in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, included in Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1998, pl. 87; and two sold in our London rooms, the first, 20th April 1971, lot 64, and the second, 27th July 1971, lot 132.