KANGXI SIX-CHARACTER MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1662-1722)

Waterpots of this form are known as Taibai zun, after the Tang dynasty poet Li Bai (also named Li Taibai, 701-762) who is often depicted leaning against a large wine vat of this shape. They are also known as jichao zun because their shape resembles that of a basketwork chicken coop that is woven with a small opening at the top through which the chicks are fed. This form belongs to a group of vessels for the scholar's desk, known as the badama, 'Eight Great Numbers', which were specially devised in these classic forms to serve as requisite appointments for the Emperor's writing table, with the peachbloom glaze specifically used for these eight shapes.

Similar peachbloom waterpots are in various museums and collections worldwide, including the Percival David Foundation, illustrated in Earth, Fire and Water: Chinese Ceramic Technology, London, 1996, no. 24, p. 34; the Baur Collection, Catalogue, vol. III, Geneva, 1999, nos. A305, A310 and A313-A316; a full set of the eight vessels at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, illustrated by S. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989, p. 237; the British Museum, Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 5, Tokyo, 1981, no. 230.

Compare with a similar waterpot sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 3 December 2008, lot 2548; another of a smaller size (8.9 cm. diam.) was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 11 April 2008, lot 2907.