A blue and white 'washing the elephant' censer, Ming dynasty, Chongzhen period

拍品描述

Property of an English Private Family wood stand (2) Diameter 21 cm, 8¼ in. Known simply as 'Washing the Elephant' (sao xiang), the vibrant scene depicted on the present censer is one of the most beloved of those attested on late Ming and early Qing porcelain and is rich in symbolism. Though the origins of the design are somewhat unclear, paintings of the scene are believed to have existed from as early as the Tang dynasty (618-907), with a legendary painting of the scene by the Tang artists Yan Liben (ca. 600-674) and Yan Lide (d. 656) attested in Song dynasty compendia. By the Ming dynasty, scenes of scholars sweeping an elephant appears to have been understood as a pun for 'sweeping away illusions' (also pronounced sao xiang) and feature frequently on scholar's objects. Compare a painting of this subject by Chen Zi (1632-1711), in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (accession no. 1976.191) with a colophon explaining the pun; a blue and white brushpot of closely related design, also in the Metropolitan Museum (accession no. 2008.80), attributed to the Chongzhen period; another included in Exhibition of Transitional Wares for the Japanese and Domestic Markets, S Marchant and Son, London, 1989, cat. no. 44; and another in the collection of Sir Michael Butler, illustrated in Teresa Canepa and Katharine Butler, Leaping the Dragon Gate, London, 2021, pl. III.2.46a,b where the author describes the design as being inspired by contemporaneous ink cake designs, including one after a painting by the famous Ding Yunpeng (fl. 1584-1618), recorded in Fangshi mopu (A Manual of Mr Fang's Ink Cakes, 1588). Also see ibid., pl. III.2.30 for a censer of closely related form and decorative schema, and a detailed description of the typical features of so-called 'High Transitional' design.

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