A CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE 'ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS' ROULEAU VASE

KANGXI 1662-1722

The body brightly decorated in vibrant underglaze blue with Liu Bei and Sun Quan slicing a rock with their swords, accompanied by an attendant, the reverse with a tree growing from rockwork, the neck with bands of chevron, key fret and cloud scrolls, 45.5cm.

Provenance: from the collection of G R A Murray and thence by descent.

In the 14th century novel, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the generals in the Dongwu kingdom conspired to murder Liu Bei, the head of the Shu Han kingdom, by inviting him to their territory with the promise to marry king Sun Quan's sister. When Liu Bei was trapped in Sun Quan's camp, he seized an opportunity while he was standing beside a large rock. Taking an attendant's sword, Liu Bei pledged to Heaven, 'If I am destined to succeed in my mission of reviving the Han, let this sword cut through the stone. Otherwise, let the stone remain intact.' As he struck, the stone split in two. When Sun Quan arrived and asked Liu Bei what he had wished for, Liu told him a lie to throw him off the scent. Sun then gripped his own sword and cried, 'I too, shall put a question to Heaven.' To himself, Sun Quan swore, 'If Dongwu is to thrive, let the rock split

' The giant stone broke again with Sun's strike.