Vintage Chinese Ceramic Li Bai Drunk Poet Reclining Figure Brush Rest Cobalt Blue Glaze 7"

Vintage Chinese Ceramic Li Bai Drunk Poet Reclining Figure Brush Rest Cobalt Blue Glaze 7"L

A charming and well-modeled vintage Chinese ceramic figure depicting Li Bai (李白, 701–762) — the Tang Dynasty poet celebrated throughout Chinese literary culture for his love of wine and his ecstatic, visionary verse — shown in his most iconic pose: reclining in a state of contented inebriation, cheek resting on one hand, eyes half-closed, his body draped in a sweeping cobalt blue glazed robe with white collar. He leans against a large amber-glazed wine barrel, its open mouth forming the functional hollow of a brush rest, 筆枕 (bǐzhěn). The cobalt glaze is deep and lustrous, rendered in the high-gloss tradition of mid-20th century Chinese export figural ware; the face and hands are modeled with quiet expressiveness — the beard, the drooping eyelids, the slight smile all immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with the iconography. Marked CHINA / Wan Jiana on base.

Dimensions: 7"L × 5"W × 3.5"H (18 × 13 × 9 cm) Weight: Less than 1 lb

The "Drunken Li Bai" is one of the most enduring subjects in Chinese decorative ceramics, appearing across media from Tang tomb figures to Qing export porcelain and 20th century studio ware. This example combines decorative appeal with desk utility.

Condition: Very good; no chips or breaks. Minor kiln flaws in the glaze consistent with production. Displays well.

A delightful desk accessory and decorative figure in one — the poet who made intoxication an art form, rendered in glowing cobalt blue.