A Chinese Famille Noire Brush Rest and Brush Washer Coupe

Kangxi period (1662-1722), hand painted in black, green, and aubergine, shaped as a twisted gnarled branch with a small squrriel with acorns to the right hand side, and a coupe to the left hand side, unglazed to underside, retains its original Chait Galleries paper label to underside.

2 7/8 x 4 1/2 x 1 1/2 in.

From the Collection of Adrienne and John C. Maxwell, Jr. John C. Maxwell Jr. assembled one of the most distinguished private collections of Asian art in the American South, with a particular focus on Chinese, Korean, and Japanese works spanning antiquity through the late imperial period. A financier and respected market analyst by profession, Maxwell developed his interest in Asian art during his military service in Korea in the early 1950s. What began as personal study evolved into a lifelong commitment to collecting, scholarship, and connoisseurship.

The collection formed by Maxwell and his wife Adrienne reflects Maxwell’s highly analytical eye and preference for works possessing strong historical character, refined craftsmanship, and clear cultural significance. Numerous objects from the collection together with their private library of 1,200 scholarly Asian art journals and books were gifted to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where they became part of the museum’s Maxwell East Asian Collection.

Chait Galleries, New York

Overall good condition; a repair to lip of coupe, nick to foot rim below the coupe, and a break with loss to squirrel tail.

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