A SUPERBLY CARVED AND IMPORTANT LARGE OVAL BAMBOO BRUSH POT
A SUPERBLY CARVED AND IMPORTANT LARGE OVAL BAMBOO BRUSH POT

EARLY 17TH CENTURY

细节
A SUPERBLY CARVED AND IMPORTANT LARGE OVAL BAMBOO BRUSH POT
EARLY 17TH CENTURY
Very finely and deeply carved in multiple layers of relief with a highly detailed scene of scholars and attendants in a densely forested retreat of various types of trees growing amidst outcroppings of rocks, on one side two scholars are seated in conversation as an attendant holding a staff hung with a double-gourd flask stands nearby, on the other side two scholars stand holding gnarled staffs as they inspect a lingzhi stem which had probably been collected by an attendant carrying further lingzhi stems as he crosses a stone bridge that spans a rushing stream, one of the rock faces inscribed with a five-character inscription, Wuqu Tang Ying hua (painted by Tang Ying from Wuqu), and two seals, Zhu and Zhizheng, with hardwood rim and base, the base inscribed with a seal, Yijin Zhai cang (Yijin Zhai collection)
7¼ in. (18.5 cm.) high, cloth box
来源
Prince Yong Xing (1752-1823), eleventh son of the Qianlong Emperor.

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拍品专文

Yijin Zhai is the name of the studio belonging to emperor Qianlong's eleventh son, Yong Xing (1752-1823).

The inscription on the brush pot suggests that the scene depicted is based on a painting by Tang Ying (1470-1523), a scholar, painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty whose life story has become a part of popular lore. Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings (especially paintings of people) exhibit stylistic elements of pre-Tang to Song date. He is one of the elite 'Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty', which also includes Shen Zhou (1427-1509), Wen Zhengming (1470-1559) and Qiu Ying (ca. 1495-1552). Tang was also a talented poet, and is known as one of the 'Four Literary Masters of the Wuzhong Region.'

The two seals, Zhu and Zhizheng, are those of a Ming-period bamboo carver of the Jiading School, who is thought to have been active during the first half of the 17th century. Jiading bamboo carving, named for Jiading, Jiangsu province, was invented by Zhu Zhizheng's grandfather, Zhu He, during the Zhengde and Jiajing periods (1506-1566) of the Ming dynasty. Zhu He merged calligraphy and painting into bamboo carving, a technique characterized by openwork carving and deep carving, and made bamboo carving an independent visual art form. Zhu He's son, Zhu Ying, and his grandson, Zhu Zhizheng, not only inherited the carving skills of their fathers, but made improvements, each becoming more skilled than his predecessor. The three generations established the basic characteristics associated with Jiading bamboo carving, and are referred to as the 'Three Zhus'.
Similar depth and intricacy of carving can be seen on a brush pot carved with a hunting scene, dated to the early Qing dynasty, illustrated in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carvings, Beijing, 2002, p. 53, no. 24, which, like the present brush pot, has a wood rim and base.