Page 96 - Bonhams May 2022 Arrow Vases

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A CARVED BAMBOO 'TWO SAGES
PLAYING CHESS' GROUP
18th century
Carved in the round with two sages playing
chess, served by a young attendant, all under a
rocky cliff issuing two gnarled pines extending
from the base to the top, the bamboo of honey-
brown tone, stand.
10.9cm (4 1/4in) high. (2).

HKD50,000 - 80,000
US$6,400 - 10,000
十八世紀 竹雕松下對弈擺件

'The Four Scholarly Accomplishments',
(Si yi): the four main academic and artistic
accomplishments required of the aristocratic
Chinese scholar-gentleman, comprised playing
the seven-stringed zither qin, the strategy game
of qi, writing calligraphy or shu, and painting
or hua. Playing qi is the only game in the Four
Accomplishments.
Compare with a related bamboo carving group
of similar form, depicting a boy and buffalos
under cliff and pines, early Qing dynasty,
exhibited in Jiading Museum, Shanghai and
illustrated in Zhuyuan jiangxin: mingqing jiading
zhuke jingpin (Selected Bamboo Carvings of
Ming and Qing Dynasites in Jiading), Shanghai,
2018, pp.100-101.
取竹根底部一節，圓雕二高士於山下對弈，高士
長髯寬袍，坐於石台兩側，石台上浮雕二棋盒，
高士探手其中，一側侍立一童子，童子懷抱一
杖，身後雕嶙峋山崖，崖側鏤空雕二松樹，松樹
參天盤頂。

古人琴棋書畫四藝中，唯有棋屬於遊戲。參考
一件類似構圖之清早期竹根雕松下牧牛圖擺
件，見《竹緣匠心：明清嘉定竹刻精品》，上
海，2018年，頁100-101。

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