QING DYNASTY (1644-1911)

Trunk-form brush and scroll pots such as the present example appeared to be quite popular during the Qing dynasty, perhaps due to their scholarly aesthetic and rustic sense of the natural world. A trunk-form stool, similar in shape to the present example, although fitted with an inset seat, and also covered in a black laquer, is illustrated by Nancy Berliner and Sarah Handler in Friends of the House: Furniture from China's Towns and Villages, Salem, 1995, pp. 50-1, no. 7, where it is attributed to Shandong province.