19TH CENTURY

The poem refers to the Eastern Jin dynasty calligrapher, Wang Xizhi, who is depicted in the scene on the reverse where he is shown with three geese. Wang Xizhi is reputed to have been very fond of geese and to have fed them ink. The writer of the poem relates having taken up calligraphy after having been inspired by the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi and feeling that he should "plant thousands of plantain trees" to use instead of wasting paper. The seal preceding the poem may be translated, 'Sliver of Moon,' and the two seals that follow read 'Ya' and 'Wan.'
Compare the similarly glazed relief-decorated brush pot also made in imitation of bamboo, with the seal mark of Wang Bingrong on the base, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum - Small Refined Articles of the Study, Shanghai, 2009, pp. 108-9, no. 79. (Fig. 1)