Page 239 - Sothebys Important Chinese Art April 3 2018

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PROPERTY FROM THE ROBERT H. BLUMENFIELD COLLECTION 清十八世紀初 竹雕人物圖筆筒
A RARE CARVED BAMBOO ‘EROTIC 來源：
SUBJECT’ BRUSHPOT
Nicholas Grindley，倫敦
QING DYNASTY, EARLY 18TH CENTURY
of flattened cylindrical form, raised on three short feet,
deftly carved and undercut on the exterior in various levels It is extremely rare to find a bamboo brushpot so finely
of relief with a large circular cartouche enclosing a figural carved with an erotic subject skilfully alluded to in the subtle
scene, depicting two attendants, one holding a lantern and iconography. The precise carving style, in which the interior
the other a cup on a tray, clandestinely walking towards a is skilfully picked out in varying levels of relief, is however
pavilion with a semi-clothed lady sleeping on a couch bed, closely related to a late Ming brushpot by Shen Dasheng in the
whimsically detailed with one of her shoes laid atop a footstool Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Literati Spirit. Art of Chinese
and a recumbent cat on the steps, all set in a fenced garden Bamboo Carving, Shanghai, 2012, cat. no. 9. The Shanghai
landscape with pierced rockwork, leafy plantain and gnarled example, in which the pictorial decoration is framed within oval
pine, the bamboo patinated to a golden chestnut-brown tone panels, is carved with two ladies in a garden.
16.4 cm, 6⅜ in.
PROVENANCE
Nicholas Grindley, London.
HK$ 150,000-250,000
US$ 19,200-32,000

IMPORTANT CHINESE ART 237