A blue and white 'figural' brushpot, Ming dynasty, Chongzhen period | 明崇禎 青花司馬相如題橋圖筆筒

Acquired in Hong Kong, 27th April 2000.

Marchant, London, 28th September 2000.

来源：

購於香港，2000年4月27日

馬錢特，倫敦，2000年9月28日

Intricately painted, the present brushpot recounts the tale of Sima Xiangru inscribing his ambition on a pillar beside a bridge, accompanied by his wife and attendants. After little luck in advancing his career in the bureaucratic system despite his talents and hard work, the Western Han scholar and poet decided to inscribe his ambitions on a bridge one day, vowing to not cross the bridge until he had become successful. Celebrated for centuries, the story commemorates Sima Xiangru's ambition and determination despite hard times, serving as a fitting subject matter for a scholar's object.

See a blue and white bowl, depicting the same story, illustrated in Chinese Porcelains of the Seventeenth Century: Landscapes, Scholars' Motifs and Narratives, China Institute, New York, 1995, cat. no. 47. A famille-verte beaker vase attributed to the Kangxi period, also painted with the same tale, is in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai (accession no. CI00004915) and published on the Museum's website.