Page 232 - Bonhams May 11th 2017 London Fine Chinese Art

314 VARIOUS OWNERS 各方藏家
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314
A BAMBOO ‘QIAO DAUGHTERS’ BRUSH POT, BITONG
17th century
The cylindrical vessel exquisitely rendered in shallow relief around the
exterior with a continuous scene of two elegantly coiffed ladies reading
in a rocky outdoor setting beneath a wutong and pine tree with a scaly
trunk and twisting branches, a lady attendant beyond a plantain tree
brings another book towards the couple seated among a table with
teapot, tripod incense burner, and brush pot containing a fly-whisk and
lingzhi fungus, the bamboo of reddish-brown tone with darker brown
areas, ink signature underneath.
14cm (5 1/2in) high

£7,000 - 10,000
CNY61,000 - 86,000

十七世紀 竹雕二喬伴讀圖筆筒

Provenance: a German Private Collection, and thence by descent

來源： 德國私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今

The two ladies depicted on the brush pot most probably refer to
the two Qiao daughters (Eastern Han dynasty). They were both
immortalised as beauties in the Ming historical novel, Romance of the
Three Kingdoms. In the novel, the strategist and emissary Zhuge Liang
attempted to persuade the warlord Sun Quan to ally himself with his
lord Liu Bei against Cao Cao. To provoke him into the alliance, Zhuge
Liang claimed that Cao Cao desired the two Qiao daughters (both of
whom were connected to the Sun clan by marriage). The resulting
alliance led to the famous battle at the Red Cliffs.

The elegantly elongated form of the ladies and unusual rock
formations, as well as the finely-delineated knots and grain on the
trees, suggest that this design was influenced by woodblock prints in
the style of the Ming painter Chen Hongshou 陳洪綬 (1598-1652). For
the influence of Chen Hongshou prints on bamboo carving, see Wen
C.Fong and James C.Y.Watt, Possessing the Past: Treasures from the
National Palace Museum, Taipei, New York, 1996, pp.464-467.

For brush pots carved with similar motifs, see one from the Simon
Kwan collection, included in the exhibition Ming and Qing Bamboo,
Hong Kong, 2000, no.35; another in the collection of B.S.McElney,
is illustrated by Ip Yee and Laurence C.S. Tam, Chinese Bamboo
Carving, Hong Kong, 1978, Vol.1, pl.35. See also a brush pot carved
with two ladies reading together in a garden setting, in the collection
of the Shanghai Museum, first half of the 17th century, is illustrated by
Chu-Tsing Li and J.C.Y.Watt, The Chinese Scholar’s Studio: Artistic Life
in the Late Ming Period, New York, 1987, no.55.

315 Y
A HUANGHUALI BRUSH POT, BITONG
17th/18th century
Of cylindrical form with thick walls and flat-rimmed, supported on three
short feet and with inset base, the bamboo of a reddish amber tone.
15.8cm (6 2/8in) high

£3,000 - 5,000
CNY26,000 - 43,000

十七/十八世紀 黃花梨筆筒

Provenance: a French private collection

來源： 法國私人收藏

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.