KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

Details

A LACQUERED IVORY BRUSH POT
KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)
The exterior of the brush pot is reverse-decorated with a continuous riverscape scene, depicting figures at leisure amidst stylised rockwork, tall trees and mountains, with a crane in flight above a natural spring. Another crane is perched on a pine tree, beside a ten-character poetic inscription. The scene is set between two key-fret borders.
5 in. (12.7 cm.) high

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

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Lot Essay

The inscription contains two lines extracted from the poem 'Feng he yan xiao shan ci fu de xi zi ying zhi' composed by the Tang poet Wu Sansi (? - AD 707).
The two lines read:
Yan quan fei ye he
Si jing wu shan ji
Which may be translated as:
The wild crane flies over the rocky cliff and the natural spring,
The pheasant dances on the smooth mirror-like stone.

See a similarly decorated brush pot from the collection of Dr. Che Ip, illustrated in Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, London, 1984, p. 154, no. 182. Another comparable brush pot of lobed form is in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p. 158, no. 139.

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