Chinese Brush Pot
A Chinese Water Pot in the shape of a Carp, porcelain, (Jingdezhen), Kangxi (1662-1722).
Chinese Brush Pot
Part of the Noel Terry Collection
Length: 11cm; Height: 14cm. NT1984.204
The Chinese name for this type of object is shui ti (water dropper), a vessel meant for the scholar’s table and used in the art of painting and calligraphy (‘beautiful writing’) to wet the crushed dry ink until it reached the right consistency.
Popular also in Japan and Korea, water droppers continued to be made throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in various shapes and designs.
This particular example is shaped as a carp leaping a waterfall, which in China symbolises achievement, success and triumph over adversity. The carp is, in fact, associated with a legend known as ‘Climbing the Dragon Gate’ in which any fish able to leap over the famous longmen waterfall is transformed into a dragon.
Therefore, a water dropper shaped as a carp seems a very appropriate object for a scholar, as it would remind him of his own success, functioning as a metaphor for his achievement through hardship and hard work.
The translucent enamels used for this object belong to a range of colours known as famille vert (‘green family’) palette. They were popular in China in the early eighteenth century and were used for both the home market and the Western one, at a time when the export trade in ceramics was blossoming.
Length: 11cm; Height: 14cm. NT1984.204
The Chinese name for this type of object is shui ti (water dropper), a vessel meant for the scholar’s table and used in the art of painting and calligraphy (‘beautiful writing’) to wet the crushed dry ink until it reached the right consistency.
Popular also in Japan and Korea, water droppers continued to be made throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in various shapes and designs.
This particular example is shaped as a carp leaping a waterfall, which in China symbolises achievement, success and triumph over adversity. The carp is, in fact, associated with a legend known as ‘Climbing the Dragon Gate’ in which any fish able to leap over the famous longmen waterfall is transformed into a dragon.
Therefore, a water dropper shaped as a carp seems a very appropriate object for a scholar, as it would remind him of his own success, functioning as a metaphor for his achievement through hardship and hard work.
The translucent enamels used for this object belong to a range of colours known as famille vert (‘green family’) palette. They were popular in China in the early eighteenth century and were used for both the home market and the Western one, at a time when the export trade in ceramics was blossoming.
This object is located in the Library
It is categorised as Ceramic
This page was last updated on 5 February 2008