Beschreibung:

A DOCUMENTARY BLANC-DE-CHINE BRUSHPOT, BITONGSigned Lin Yanyang, cyclically dated to the Renzi year corresponding to 1672 and of the period
The vessel of gently tapering form with recessed base and unglazed foot rim, incised around the exterior with an inscription in cao shu, with signature, covered in a creamy-white glaze extending to the interior. 11.6cm (4 1/2in) high. Footnotes1672年 德化白釉詩文筆筒
Provenance: a French private collection
S.Marchant & Son, London, 24 November 2006
Published, Illustrated and Exhibited: S.Marchant & Son, Blanc de Chine, London, 2006, no.81a.
S.Marsh, Brushpots: A Collector's View, Hong Kong, 2020, pp.180-181
來源：法國私人收藏
S.Marchant & Son，倫敦，2006年11月24日
展覽著錄： S.Marchant & Son，《德化白瓷》，倫敦，2006年，編號81a
S.Marsh，《筆筒淵鑒：收藏家的隨心所悟》，香港，2020年，第180-181頁
The inscription around the exterior of the brushpot notes the last three lines from the short essay Recording the Night Tour to Chengtian Temple (記承天寺夜遊), by the famous Song dynasty literatus Su Shi (1036-1101):
何夜無月？何處無竹柏？但少閒人如吾兩人者耳。
Which may be translated as:
What night is without the moon? Where is there no bamboo and cypress? But there are few idlers like the two of us.
According to Su Shi, one night in 1083, he was unable to sleep, so took a walk to Chengtian temple to find his friend Zhang Huaimin who also was awake. They thus took a walk together in the courtyard. The short essay captures the essence of friendship, so valued by the literati. Friendship, as one of the 'Five Human Relationships' (五伦) according to Confucianism (which included husband and wife; children and parents; elder and younger brothers; ruler and subject), was the least constrained by some sort of hierarchy and freely chosen.
Dated blanc de-Chine brushpot are rare. P.J.Donnelly discusses blanc de Chine brushpots as follows: 'they are found in two main forms, solid-walled and reticulated. Among the earliest are the plain ones rather like tumblers, tapering slightly from the mouth. These are often of high quality and often bear inscriptions in grass script'; see P.J.Donnelly, Blanc de Chine, London, 1969, p.119. Compare with a similar inscribed blanc de Chine brushpot, late Ming/early Qing dynasty, illustrated in Dehua Wares Collected by the Palace Museum II, Beijing, 2016, pp.522-523, no.239.