Page 185 - Bonhams Hong Kong The Skinner Moon Flasks

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A FINE BAMBOO ‘ZHONG KUI’ BRUSHPOT,
BITONG
17th century
The cylindrical vessel finely carved around the
exterior with the mythical figure of Zhong Kui, the
vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings seated at ease,
using a stick to clean his left ear resulting in ticklish
facial expression, the other side with a twenty-
character kaishu inscription, raised on three shallow-
cut feet, the bamboo of a dark reddish-brown hue,
fitted box.
14.8cm (5 7/8in) high

HK$300,000 - 400,000
US$39,000 - 51,000

十七世紀 竹雕鍾馗挖耳圖筆筒

Provenance:
An important Asian private collection

來源：
重要亞洲私人收藏

The inscription reads as:

威名天下震 weiming tianxia zhen
消息耳遙探 xiaoxi eryao tan
殲妖誰與並 jianyao shui yu bing
名氣在終南 mingqi zai zhong nan

‘The prestigious name shocks all under the heavens,
information heard from a distance is investigated,
none is compared when it comes to subduing demons,
such fame [Zhong Kui] comes from Zhongnan mountains.’

A deeply carved and reticulated bamboo brushpot,
with a similar subject matter of Zhong Kui picking his
ears, Ming dynasty, from the Qing Court collection,
is illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures
of the Palace Museum: Small Refined Articles of the
Study, Shanghai, 2009, pl.10.

取一段竹節雕成，圓筒形，一面淺浮雕鍾馗斜坐石
凳上，戴幞頭，著朝服，一手拈小枝正在挖耳。其
眉眼攢聚，目光斜睨，意甚陶醉。另一面起陽文詩
詞「威名天下震 ，消息耳遙探。 殲妖誰與並 ，名
氣在終南 。」

鍾馗為道教信仰中鎮宅驅魔之神祗，其形象大多虎
背熊腰，豹頭虎面，龍額魚眼，臉上虯髯大把。此
筆筒之鍾馗像表情誇張、卻妙趣橫生，頗具工藝
性。見北京故宮博物院藏一件明代竹雕鍾馗挖耳圖
筆筒，著錄於《故宮博物院院藏文物珍品大系：文
玩》，上海，2009年，頁18，編號10。