Page 37 - SOtheby's Hong Kong Fine Chinese Art May 2018

344

PROPERTY FROM THE PEONY COLLECTION Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss explained in their entry for this
brushpot in the aforementioned exhibition article that: ‘The
A ZITAN ‘TREE TRUNK’ BRUSHPOT
natural-looking gnarled and knotty appearance of this piece
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY is entirely contrived. But within the scholar’s aesthetic it was
almost certainly not intended to be entirely natural looking.
the exterior carved with knots and recesses to simulate a
gnarled section of tree trunk, with a circular aperture to the [... It employs] highly stylised, simplified and abstracted
naturalism, in which aspect [it echoes] the paintings of the
base, fitted with a wood flanged plug
literati. To the patrons, such pieces spoke eloquently of the
h. 16.6 cm, 6½ in.
subtle human mind and express the understanding that good
EXHIBITED art is no slave to nature, but a full partner in man’s pursuit of
understanding.
Wood from the Scholar’s Table: Chinese Hardwood Carvings
and Scholar’s Articles, Hong Kong, 1984, cat. no. 13. Dong Qichang, the late Ming artist and literati theorist, wrote
Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Fung Ping Shan Museum, “As for those who meticulously and carefully delineate, they
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1986, cat. no. 71. can only be called slaves of nature.”’
HK$ 80,000-120,000
US$ 10,200-15,300

清十八世紀 紫檀雕樹樁式筆筒
展覽：
《Wood from the Scholar’s Table: Chinese Hardwood
Carvings and Scholar’s Articles》，香港，1984年，編
號13
曾柱昭及莫士撝，《文玩萃珍》，香港大學馮平山博物
館， 香港，1986年，編號71

CHINESE ART 35