A peachbloom-glazed brush washer, Mark and period of Kangxi

Yatsuhashi, Boston, circa 1963.

The form of this washer is known as tangluo xi, one of the most iconic forms among 'peachbloom' wares. This type of ware is in many renowned museums and collections. A closely related washer in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong. Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Hong Kong, 1989, pl. 123; another in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is illustrated with a group of peachbloom-glazed vessels in Suzanne Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, pl. 236.

Many have also appeared at auctions over the years. See three from the Edward T. Chow Collection, one illustrated in Cecile and Michel Beurdeley, La Céramique Chinoise, Fribourg, 1974, pl. 98, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 17th May 1988, lot 61; one entered the M.C. Wang Collection and was sold at Christie's New York, 19th March 2008, lot 636; and the last was sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 8th April 2009, lot 1657. More recently, see one suffused with pale green speckles, previously in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, sold at Christie's New York, 11th September 2019, lot 726; and another, previously in the Cadle Family Collection, sold in these rooms, 21st March 2023, lot 14.

Yatsuhashi Harumichi (1886-1982) was born in Tano, Japan, and worked for Yamanaka & Company in Osaka before managing their Boston branch in 1907. In 1945, after World War II, Yatsuhashi and his son Michio opened their own Asian art dealership at 420 Boylston Street, Boston. Yatsuhashi was active in cultural exchange, serving as president of the Japan Society of Boston in 1931 and founding the Boston-Kyoto Sister City Foundation.