Chinese brush pot discovered at valuation day has £40,000 price tag

A rare 18th century Chinese cinnabar lacquer brush pot discovered during an antiques valuation day held by Shrewsbury-based fine art auctioneers Halls is expected to sell for around £40,000 when it goes under the hammer next month.

The brush pot, or bitong, depicts Wang Xizhi, known as the Sage of Calligraphy, on a veranda watching his geese in a pond. Wang Xizhi lived during the Jin Dynasty and was the most esteemed Chinese calligrapher during and after the Tang Dynasty.

The Emperor Taizong was said to have admired Wang Xizhi’s works so much that the original of his most famous work, ‘Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion’, was buried with him in his mausoleum.

“I knew it was an important piece the moment I saw it,” said Alexander Clement, Halls’ Asian art specialist. “The quality of the carving is exceptional and it’s identical to a brush pot in the National Palace Museum in Beijing and a similar example in a museum in Taipei.

“Wang Xizhi was very interested in nature and was fascinated by geese, the flowing quality of their necks said to have inspired his calligraphy and most of his writing.

“The owner of the brush pot, who lives in South Shropshire, had absolutely no idea what it was worth and was delighted when I gave her the good news.

“If we get the right people interested from mainland China, we could all be in for a big surprise at the auction on November 9. When are you going to get another opportunity to buy one these very rare pieces at auction?

“It just goes to show how important our weekly valuation days are for turning up treasures. I had a similar experience with a pair of Daoguang vases that sold for £85,000 in May. They were also brought to our Monday valuation day in Shrewsbury by a Shropshire vendor.”

Another lot expected to sell well at Halls’ Asian art auction on November 9 is a pair of large Japanese bronze plaques of Macaque monkeys by Ichiju from the Meiji period. Consigned by a North Shropshire vendor, the plaques are valued at up to £6,000.

“Ichiju is an artist whose work doesn’t come up for auction very often and it’s of a very high order,” said Mr Clement. “The Meiji period is renowned for the production of fine works of art at time when the emperor was keen to open up trade with the west.”

Chinese interest is also anticipated in a painted scroll with figures in a landscape, set into an English mahogany low table, which is valued at up to £3,000. The scroll is signed and attributed to Qiu Ying (1494-1552), a prominent artist from the Ming Dynasty whose work is on display in major museums in China.

“We are attributing the scroll to Qiu Ying as it’s certainly in his style and signed,” said Mr Clement. “Examples of his quality work rarely come up for auction.”