Lot 1142
Treasury 4, no. 636 (‘The Romance of the Three Kingdoms’)
HK$60,000

Crystal suffused with icy flaws, ink, and watercolours; with a flat lip and recessed, slightly convex foot surrounded by a protruding rounded foot rim; painted on each main side with illustrations from the Sanguo yanyi (‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’), one showing Lady Sun 孫夫人 in a wheeled chair with a canopy, the other with Zhao Yun 趙雲on horseback wielding his halberd at Xu Sheng 徐盛and Ding Feng 丁奉, inscribed in regular script with the title Hui Jingzhou 回荊州 (‘Returning to Jingzhou’), followed by Gengxu xia ri xie yu jingshi Xigu shanfang, Meng Zishou 庚戌夏日寫於京師習古山房， 孟子受 (‘Painted at the capital by Meng Zishou on a summer day in the year gengxu at the Mountain Abode for the Study of Antiquities’), with one seal of the artist, Zishou, in negative seal script
Bottle: 1760–1860
Painting: Meng Zishou, Mountain Abode for the Study of Antiquities, Beijing, summer, 1910
Height: 7.88 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.90/2.04 cm
Stopper: jadeite; gilt-silver collar

Provenance:
Kurt Blücher von Walhstatt (Graf)
Hugh M. Moss Ltd (circa 1968)
Heflene Collection
Hugh M. Moss Ltd (1985)

Published:
Moss 1971, p. 147, no. 403
JICSBS, September 1978, p. 12, fig. 1
JICSBS, Spring 1988, p. 19, fig. 12
Treasury 4, no. 636

Exhibited:
Christie’s, London, 1999

From 1910 onwards, Meng Zishou painted a series of figural subjects illustrating scenes from popular books. Although the style of painting is distinctive, we can see from some of the subjects and from the bright colours used for the figures that he was influenced by Ye Zhongsan. This is one of his most spectacular bottles in the genre, partly because it is in such a lovely old crystal bottle. The icy flaws in the material soften the bright colouring and the illustrative, rather folksy style of painting, which with some of his figural subjects can be a little jarring aesthetically.

The Sanguo yanyi 三國演義 (‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’) is a novel about the rivalry between the three kingdoms of Wei 魏, Shu 蜀, and Wu 吳. The plot of the story illustrated here concerns the latter two; it formed the basis of two operas, Meiren ji 美人計 (‘Stratagem [using] the beautiful woman’) and Hui Jingzhou 回荊州 (‘Return to Jingzhou’), which could have been the direct inspiration for Meng.

In the early third century, Shu was ruled by Liu Bei 劉備 (161–223), Wu by Sun Quan 孫權 (182–252). A Wu general named Zhou Yu 周瑜 (175–210) plotted to take over Jingzhou, a large region between Shu in the west and Wu in the east. Zhou invited Liu Bei to travel to Wu and wed the younger sister of Sun Quan, Lady Sun (Sun Shangxiang 孫尚香). The marriage proposal was meant only as bait: Liu Bei, according to the plan, would be taken hostage, with Jingzhou the ransom for his release. Liu Bei’s brilliant strategist, Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮 (181–234), was well aware of the objective behind the plot and the inherent danger to Liu Bei. However, he encouraged Liu to go after giving one of Liu’s generals, Zhao Yun 趙雲 (d. 229), three small brocade pouches containing plans for dealing with difficult situations that might arise. The two then set out with an escort of five hundred soldiers. Following the first instruction of Zhuge Liang, Sun Quan’s mother was made aware of the impending marriage. She demanded to see Liu Bei before Sun Quan could harm him. She liked Liu and insisted that the marriage take place. Zhou Yu’s plot was thus thwarted, but the indefatigable Zhou immediately put in place another plot. He constructed a magnificent mansion and provided all sorts of material comforts for the newlyweds. So pleasant was the new-found domestic life of Liu Bei that he never thought of going back home.

As time went by, Zhao Yun became anxious. He took out the second brocade pouch to see what course of action he could take. After reading Zhuge’s advice, he put on a big show of distress and rushed to Liu Bei’s residence to communicate the false news that Jingzhou was being attacked by an enormous army of five hundred thousand soldiers from Wei in the north. This shocked Liu Bei into preparing to leave Wu immediately. He explained the situation to his wife, and both knew that they had to go under some kind of pretext in order to leave unharmed. Lady Sun went to see her mother, informing her that she would accompany her husband to the shore of the Yangzi River to perform sacrificial rites in honour of Liu Bei’s ancestors. Then, with the blessing of her mother, they secretly left with their five hundred soldiers.

Sun Quan was kept in the dark about Liu Bei’s departure. When he found out the next day, he first sent two captains, Chen Wu 陳武and Pan Zhang 潘璋, and five hundred soldiers to pursue the runaways. Then he sent two more, Jiang Qin 蔣欽and Zhou Tai 周泰, and a thousand soldiers as reinforcements. Zhou Yu had also predicted the route to be taken by the fugitives and despatched Xu Sheng 徐盛and Ding Feng 丁奉, supported by a force of three thousand men, to station themselves at a strategic spot and lie in wait for them.

At this critical moment Zhao Yun took out the last of Zhuge Liang’s brocade pouches for advice. Zhuge exhorted Liu Bei to rely on Lady Sun’s position and power to save his life. In the end, thanks to Lady Sun’s courage and tact, the pursuers led by Xu Sheng, Ding Feng, Chen Wu, and Pan Zhang were willing to let them go. However, when Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai arrived a little later, both insisted on continuing the pursuit. The fugitives, therefore, had to flee again. They finally reached the shore and boarded the boats despatched by Zhuge Liang. Yet the hot pursuit did not end until the pursued and the pursuers found themselves getting close to the boundary of the Shu kingdom. At this point, many more Shu soldiers appeared to rescue the fleeing party. Being outnumbered, the Wu soldiers were eventually defeated. (For readers confused by Lady Sun’s actions, it may help to know that the historical Lady Sun did in fact place the interests of her husband above those of her brother; in 211 she attempted to abduct Sun Quan’s son as a future hostage.)

On one side of the bottle we see Lady Sun, having asked for her carriage to be pushed out of hiding and the curtain of the canopy rolled back, so that she could reprimand Xu Sheng and Ding Feng, who are not shown. Liu Bei, her husband, is on the horse.

On the other side, Zhao Yun, mounted on the horse and waving his halberd, confronts Xu Sheng and Ding Feng, after having been reprimanded by Lady Sun and agreeing to free the fugitives.

This is not the Sotheby’s sale catalogue. This is a product of Hugh Moss for the purposes of this website. For the catalogue details please refer to Sotheby’s website or request a copy of a printed sale catalogue from Sotheby’s.