A Well-Carved Openwork Bamboo Brushpot, Bitong

INCISED WITH A CYCLICAL WUWU YEAR DATE POSSIBLY CORRESPONDING TO 1618 AND OF THE PERIOD

細節

A Well-Carved Openwork Bamboo Brushpot, Bitong
Incised with a Cyclical Wuwu Year Date Possibly Corresponding to 1618 and of the Period
Carved with three scholarly figures and a young attendant conversing under a pine tree, a seven-character inscription lightly inscribed on the reverse
5in. (14.6cm.) high

拍品專文

The inscription may be translated as follows: 'Made on a spring day in the Wuwu year by Zhu Sansong', corresponding to 1618.

Sansong was the alias for the painter Zhu Zhizheng, a native of Jiading, Jiangsu province, and the second son of the Ming dynasty bamboo carver, Zhu Ying. He was active from 1621-1644 and was known to carve for his own pleasure. A bamboo brushpot carved with three scholars and bearing the mark of Sansong in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art was included in the exhibition, Chinese Bamboo Carving, Part I, Hong Kong Museum of Art, col. pl. 15, no. 37.