C16 A “Wang Xizhi feeding his geese” snuff bottle

Description

Description:  Chinese snuff bottle of cylindrical shape decorated in underglaze cobalt blue with the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi feeding two geese. Wang Xizhi is known to be especially fond of geese (see Notes below).

Mark:  No marks

Dating:  19^th century

Material:  Porcelain, glazed inside.

Size:  83 mm high

Stopper:  Rose quartz stopper carved with the Shou character, silver spoon

Provenance:  Antiquarian market

References:

Size:  Excerpts from Wikipedia:

Wang Xizhi (王羲之; 303 AD–361 AD) was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, general and writer during the Jin dynasty. He was best known for his mastery of Chinese calligraphy. Wang is sometimes regarded as the greatest Chinese calligrapher in Chinese history, and was a master of all forms of Chinese calligraphy, especially the running script. Furthermore, he is known as one of the Four Talented Calligraphers in Chinese calligraphy. Emperor Taizong of Tang admired his works so much that the original Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion was said to be buried with the emperor in his mausoleum. In addition to the artistic talent in which continues to be held in high esteem in modern China, he has been and remains an influential figure in East Asian calligraphy, particularly Japanese calligraphy. His tomb was severely damaged during the Cultural Revolution.

He learned the art of calligraphy from Lady Wei Shuo. He excelled in every script but particularly in semi-cursive script. Wang Xizhi is particularly remembered for one of his hobbies, that of rearing geese. Legend has it that he learned that the key to how to turn his wrist whilst writing was to observe how geese moved their necks. There is a small porcelain cup depicting Wang Xizhi “walking geese” in the China Gallery of the Asian Civilizations Museum in Singapore. The other side of the cup depicts a scholar “taking a zither to a friend”. He loved geese very much. He looked at the geese splashing in the river in a daze. Later, he comprehended the principle of calligraphy from the movements of the geese, which helped his calligraphy skills.