A famille-verte 'peony and rockwork' brushpot, Qing dynasty, Kangxi period | 清康熙 五彩牡丹圖筆筒 《木石居》款

Mushiju has been identified as a private workshop in Jingdezhen specializing in literati-inspired wares of exceptional quality. An article by Pengliang Lu, 'Where Potter Met Poets, A Kangxi Vase with a Poetry Gathering in Jingdezhen,' Arts of Asia, March-April 2017, pp 98-104, identifies the founder of Mushiju as Zhao Wenzong, a local official who moved comfortably among poets, calligraphers, and artists of the period. The superlative works from this studio illustrate the close and productive relationship between artist and artisan that flourished during the Kangxi period. A brushpot with the same mark dated to the year corresponding to 1709, from the Grandidier Collection, is in the Musée Guimet, Paris and illustrated in The World’s Great Collections, Oriental Ceramics, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 53. A related brushpot bearing a Mushiju seal mark, from the Jie Rui Tang Collection, was sold in these rooms, 20th March 2018, lot 310.