Page 320 - Important Chinese Art Hong Kong April 2, 2019 Sotheby's

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PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT COLLECTION 十七世紀 竹雕東山報捷圖筆筒
A FINELY CARVED LARGE BAMBOO BRUSHPOT
17TH CENTURY 來源：
香港蘇富比2006年4月10日，編號1646
the thick sides with a fitted hardwood rim and base
supported on three short feet, the exterior of the vessel
superbly carved in high relief with a continuous mountain
landscape scene depicting two scholars playing weiqi, with
two ladies observing, under pine trees in a rocky mountain
valley, the peaks obscured by clouds above, beyond a
gushing waterfall in the distance with a man riding a horse
and approaching from behind a cliff, the wood of an auburn-
brown colour
15.2 cm, 6 in.
PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 10th April 2006, lot 1646.
HK$ 1,200,000-1,500,000
US$ 153,000-192,000

Deftly carved in high relief with two scholars and ladies in
an idyllic landscape, the craftsman’s remarkable control of
the carving knife is evident in the variety of textures he has
successfully captured, from the knotted trunk of the pine
tree to the rocky mountains and gushing waterfall, and the
figures’ loose robes. The fine workmanship of this piece is
further evidenced in the sensitive rendering of the figures’
facial features, and their expressive gestures and poses.
Bamboo carvings flourished in the late Ming dynasty thanks
to the great technical skill and artistic creativity of members
of the Zhu family in Jiading, who pioneered a distinctive
style that remained popular through to the Qing period. The
so-called ‘reduced ground mass with raised relief’ technique
seen on this piece was popular among bamboo carvers of
the late Ming and early Qing dynasty. This style was first
developed by the renowned and highly influential master
carved Zhu Sansong, active from the late Ming dynasty.
Complex compositions featuring round and smooth cuts in
varying levels of relief are characteristic of this style.
A slightly larger brushpot carved with scholars in a secluded
landscape, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in
The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum.
Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings,
Shanghai, 2001, pl. 29; one of slightly smaller size, carved
with immortals, also in the Palace Museum, Beijing, is
published in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carvings,
Beijing, 2002, pl. 25; and a third, depicting Su Dongpo’s
(1037-1101) excursion to the Red Cliff, from the collection of
Simon Kwan, was included in the exhibition Ming and Qing
Bamboo, University Museum and Art Gallery, The University
of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2000, cat. no. 28. Compare also
two brushpots from the Feng Wen Tang collection, sold at
Christie’s Hong Kong, 3rd May 2015, lots 2809 and 2828,
the former carved with the ‘Red Cliff’, and the latter with a
related motif of scholars in landscape.

318 SOTHEBY ’S IMPORTANT CHINESE ART