EARLY QING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY

The carving of the present brush pot is deep and intricate, showing a continuation of the Jiading School style that was established by master carver Zhu He. Active during the Zhengde and Jiajing periods (1506-1566), Zhu He merged calligraphy and painting into bamboo carving, and elevated bamboo carving to an independent visual art form. See a carved bamboo brush pot by Zhu He dated by inscription to the 6th year of the Zhengde reign (1511) in the Nanjing Museum, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji, vol. 11 – zhumuyajiaoqi, Beijing, 1987, no. 3 (fig. 1). The carving style on the present brush pot is deeper than the Ming predecessor, and is more characteristic of the early-Qing Jiading School.