AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE BLUE AND WHITE '384 SHOU' BRUSHPOT, BITONGKangxi six-character mark and of the period The cylindrical vessel rising from a grooved foot ring, painted around the exterior of the straight walls in vibrant tones of cobalt-blue with 384 Shou ('longevity') characters in various calligraphic styles of seal script. 17cm (6 3/4in) diam. 清康熙 青花寿字笔筒 青花「大清康熙年製」楷書款 Provenance: J.J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art, New York, 10 December 1990 Exhibited: Oriental Ceramic Society, China Without Dragons, Rare Pieces from Oriental Ceramic Society Members , London, 2016, no.149 Published and Illustrated: Oriental Ceramic Society, China Without Dragons , London, 2018, p.248, no.149 S.Marsh, Brushpots: A Collector's View , Hong Kong, 2020, pp.11 (fig.6), 118-121 來源：紐約古董商 J.J. Lally & Co. Oriental Art，1990年12月10日 展覽：東方瓷器協會，《China Without Dragons, Rare Pieces from Oriental Ceramic Society Members》，倫敦，2016年，149號 錄著：東方瓷器協會，《China Without Dragons, Rare Pieces from Oriental Ceramic Society Members》，倫敦，2016年，149號 S.Marsh，《Brushpots: A Collector's View》，香港，2020年，頁11（插圖 6），頁118-121 The present brushpot with continuous rows of 384 Shou ('longevity') characters in different forms of seal script, channelled foot ring and Imperial reign mark, is extremely rare. There is a closely related brushpot with Shou characters in underglaze copper-red, Kangxi, but supported on three short feet and with no mark on the base, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Theplete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red , Shanghai, 2000, p.182, no.166, where the authors note that it was made in the late Kangxi period. Another related blue and white brushpot decorated with Shou characters, Chenghua six-character mark, Kangxi, with flat and slightly recessed 'button' base, is in the Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (acc.no.2000.0081). Stylistically, the present brushpot with numerous Shou characters is also related to a large blue and white 'ten thousand Shou character' zun vase, Kangxi, from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in Theplete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red , Shanghai, 2000, pp.8-9, no.5. Another similar blue and white zun vase with Shou characters, Kangxi, is in the Nanjing Museum, and illustrated in Qing Imperial Porcelain of the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Reigns , Hong Kong, 1995, no.12. See also a blue and white baluster vase, Kangxi, decorated with Shou characters in various seal script, illustrated in Qing Shunzhi Kangxi chao qinghuaci , Beijing, 2005, p.436. With regards to the date of the present lot, the channelled foot ring suggests that it was made in the early Kangxi period. The channelled foot ring is a feature that appeared in the Shunzhi reign. A blue and white brushpot with channelled foot, cyclically da