The Literati’s Ordinaries — A Proposal of Life from the 17th Century

Trends, tastes, and consumption reflect the features of the times. The prosperous region of 17th century Jiangnan, largely populated by the literati, developed a glamorous lifestyle that propelled local consumption.

This washer in underglaze blue has a rim shaped into ten flower petals. Patterns of swimming fish and water plants decorate the inner base and the exterior of the vessel. Wen Zhenheng approved Xuande ware porcelain like this piece as appropriate for the studio.

Calligraphy works were evaluated based on the works of the Tang dynasty, and regular script was considered the standard. For example, a hundred words in cursive script by Wang Xizhi were considered to have the same value as one line of running script. Three lines of running script were compared with one line of regular script. However, a whole work should not be evaluated by word count.

Vulgar Objects

There were even evaluation standards for vulgar objects. This water pourer in the shape of a child riding an elephant violated the Jiangnan literati taboo as “figurine-shaped objects were inelegant,” showing that literati principles of connoisseurship were entirely different from those of average people.

In the Treatise on Superfluous Things, the entry for “box” mentions the phrase “wo box,” which refers to a kind of Japanese lacquered box. Their lightweight and exquisite craftsmanship made them suitable for storing “ancient jades, precious objects, or small scrolls from the Jin and Tang dynasty,” in addition to “scrolls, incense, or curios.” It was useful to have many in the studio.

Objects bearing collectors’ marks reflected the preferences and purchasing power of the literati class and connoisseurs.

The wood stand of this Northern Song dynasty celadon dish bears the mark “Treasure Collection of An Yizhou.” An Qi (1683 - 1745), style name Yizhou, was a painting and calligraphy collector active in Tianjin and Yangzhou in the first half of the 18th century. He excelled at appraising antiquities.

If we return to the time of Wen Zhenheng, we will realize that he seldom mentioned Ru ware porcelain. However, before Wen’s publication, Gao Lian had already written extensively about the traits of Ru ware in Zunsheng Bajian (Eight Treatises on Following the Principles of Life), reflecting a change in the circulation of antiquities.

In Pursuit of Curios in the Market

The prosperity of the Jiangnan region in the late Ming encouraged the escalating demand for antiques and luxuries among the public.

Nobles placed orders of custom-made goods according to their tastes, and scholars aspiring to the trend acquired contemporary works in the style of ancient bronzes. This piece was ordered by the King Lu Zhu Changfang (1608 - 1648) in 1635.

Zhou Danquan was an active master in creating antiquarian style objects among circles of antiquity connoisseurs by the end of 16th century. According to legend, one day he saw a white porcelain Ding tripod at the house of Tang Taichang (Jinshi, imperial scholar, in 1571), so Zhou borrowed it and carefully noted down its design and patterns. Soon after, he created a porcelain tripod which looked the same as the original. It was so hard to differentiate between the copy and the original that Tang even bought the copy.

This work is another round tripod. Even though its base is marked with the words “made by Zhou Danquan,” there isn’t enough evidence to prove it was actually made by Zhou. Therefore, it was likely produced by a celebrated craftsman or a renowned workshop through word of mouth.

The top of the painting is marked with “Yu hua xie sheng ling mao tu” in "Slender Gold“ script, the style of Emperor Huizong. On the area between the mounting silk and artwork are light marks of Huizhong’s reign, “Zhenghe” and “Xuanhe,” under which there is “Yushu.”

The painting is rather lovely; however, some parts were painted stiffly and the junction of colors is not fluent. This work clearly was not produced by the Imperial Painting Academy of Emperor Huizong.

This painting also has an attached painting of mandarin ducks in a lotus pond. The second painting has no inscription, but is of even higher quality than the first bird and flower painting, which is full of fake marks.

“Wild and Heterodox” Painting

Although this painting is signed Ma Yuan (active from 1190 - 1225) at the lower left hand corner, it is believed to be the work of Zhong Li.

The Treatise on Superfluous Things identified several Zhe-school painters as the “devilish school of paintings,” and demanded audiences not to collect their pieces. Zhong Li was one of these painters, and likely forged Ma Yuan’s signature on this work in order to gain the acceptance of consumers and raise the value of the painting.

Export Porcelains in Circulation

Export porcelain circulating between East and West in the 17th century had a great overseas market.

However, Wen Zhenheng considered objects in the shape of paired Mandarin ducks inelegant while patterns of the Wan (卍) character were seen as extremely vulgar. The comparison demonstrates that the taste of literati and popular styles on the market were quite different from each other!