17TH/18TH CENTURY

Scenes from popular novels and plays are often depicted on bamboo wares of late Ming and early Qing date, many taking inspiration from Ming dynasty paintings and woodblock prints. On the present brushpot, two scenes from different stories are carved, one on the upper body from the 'Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove', and on the lower body a scene depicting 'A Literary Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion', the Lanting Xu, a collection of poems composed at the Orchid Pavilion by Wang Xizhi. This latter scene refers to Wang Xizhi, the famous Eastern Jin dynasty calligrapher who is known as the 'Sage of Calligraphy', and his forty-one companions composing a collection of thirty-seven poems on the 3rd of March, the ninth year of Yonghe (corresponding to AD 353), while on an outing in the countryside. During the Eastern Jin dynasty, it was customary for people to picnic on the banks of a river on the 3rd of March to rid themselves of any misfortune. According to folklore, Wang Xizhi's friends and family sat beside a meandering stream, and floated small cups of wine downstream. Whenever a cup stopped in front of another person, that person was to compose a poem on the spot. Those who failed to do so were made to drink the wine as forfeit. At the end of the day, twenty-six of the picnickers had to compose a total of 37 poems. Naturally, there was much merry-making and wine consumed in the process.

This same unusual combination of scenes can be seen on another finely carved bamboo brushpot sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 28 November 2005, lot 1458. Compare, also, the fine carving of the present brushpot to that seen on a brushpot carved with a scene from Ouyang Xiu's Ode to the Pavilion of the Inebriated Old Man, bearing the signature of Gu Jue (active late 17th century), illustrated by D. P. Leidy et al., in 'Chinese Decorative Arts', The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer 1997, p. 50.