QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
HEIGHT: 8.4CM
The brushpot is carved from a hollowed block of jade with tapered straight sides and rests on shallow bracketed feet. The brushpot is carved in low relief with four panels, each depicting a floral scene within a thin raised border. The four panels depict the so-called ‘four gentlemen’, which comprise prunus, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum and stand for dignity, quietude, fortitude and simplicity. Each floral motif Is paired with an accompanying inscription.
Side 1
| 御製 | By His Majesty |
| 鞠有黄華載禮經 | It is but recorded in the Classic of Rites that Chrysanthemums have a golden splendour, |
| 何來紅紫幻多形 | So whence came these reds and purples in so many magically changing shapes? |
| 茸儒充隱紛無數 | Though these soft and pliant would-be recluses exist in numbers beyond count, |
| 人有如斯物可聽 | If there were but one man like them, he’d be someone worth heeding! |
The title of the poem is Mantiju 漫題菊 (Impromptu Verse on Chrysanthemums) in Yuzhi shiji 御製 詩集 (His Majesty’s Poetry Collection), Second Collection 二集 (Wenyuange Siku quanshu 文淵閣四 庫全書ed.), 44:10a.
| 御製 | By His Majesty |
| 春蘭今日識其真 | In the spring orchid I recognize today that its authentic self |
| 一種王香㝡可親 | Is expressed in a kind of kingly fragrance giving utter delight. |
| 底事閒情遙望古 | In too leisurely a mood to engage in any task I turn a far distant gaze to antiquity— |
| 朅思澤畔品題人 | How is it I chance to think of those who at the edge of a marsh appraised things so? |
The title of the poem is Chunlan 春蘭 (Spring Epidendrum Orchids) published in Yuzhi shiji 御製詩 集 (His Majesty’s Poetry Collection), Second Collection 二集 (Wenyuange Siku quanshu 文淵閣四庫 全書ed.), 8:21a.
Side 2
The last line alludes to Qu Yuan 屈原and his encounter with a fisherman in the Yufu 漁夫 (The Fisherman), one of the Chuci 楚辭 (Songs of Chu), in which the two engage in a dialogue in which Qu Yuan laments the miserable way the world has treated him and which the fisherman concludes with the famous line “When the Canglang’s waters are clear, I can wash my hat strings in them; when the waters of the Canglang are muddy, I can wash my feet in them.”
| 御製 | By His Majesty |
| 風裏試披清奏籟 | In wind they try swaying so to play a clear piping sound, |
| 月中乍展宛飛龍 | And when bathed in moonlight suddenly unfurl to become soaring dragons. |
| 一梢已占琅玕性 | Once each tip has taken on the nature of white gemstone, |
| 千畝如看煙雨重 | A thousand acres of them look like layers of mist and rain. |
The title of the poem is Ti Ni Zan hua zhu 題倪瓚畫竹 (Inscribed on A Painting of Bamboos by Ni Zan) in Yuzhi shiji 御製詩集 (His Majesty’s Poetry Collection), Second Collection 二集 (Wenyuange Siku quanshu 文淵閣四庫全書ed.), 7:4b-5a. Ni Zan 倪瓚 (1301-1374) was one of the four great masters of the Yuan dynasty.
| 御製 | By His Majesty |
| 鐵榦氷花蓓蕾紅 | Though ice blossoms lie on iron stems and dot them with buds of red, |
| 墨勾不襲補之翁 | The inky hooks follow not the style of Old Man Buzhi. |
| 為文悟得同歸理 | In writing I realize that in composition it’s just the same, |
| 喜語難工苦易工 | Where happy tidings mean hard work but distress is easy to do. |
The title of the poem is Mei 梅 (Prunus) in Yuzhi shiji 御製詩集 (His Majesty’s Poetry Collection), Second Collection 二集 (Wenyuange Siku quanshu 文淵閣四庫全書ed.), 40:13b. Yang Wujiu 楊無 咎 (1097-1171) personal name (zi 字) Buzhi 补之, but some sources give Buzhi as Yang’s given name (ming 名); Yang was a renowned Southern Song era prunus painter.
The jade is of a mottled opaque grey colour with black and white speckled inclusions.
PROVENANCE
Collection of Gerard Arnhold (1918-2010)
Spink & Son Ltd., London
清乾隆 灰白玉題御製詩四君子四方筆筒
