A CARVED BAMBOO BRUSHPOT, BY ZHANG XIHUANG 17TH / 18TH CENTURY

of circular section, skilfully carved in liuqing technique around the sides with a painterly lakeside landscape of pavilions and different varieties of trees emerging from rocky islands, a figure looking out from a balustrade in the foreground, with a scholar rafting on finely rippled water in the mid-distance, a walled palatial compound beyond with detached pavilions, beneath drifting clouds, with a multitude of mountains in the far-distance, all lightly carved through the paler ochre skin to the rich reddish-brown body beneath, an inscription reading Lihua yuan luo rong rong yue, liushui chi tang dan dan feng ('The moon shines softly on the Lihua garden, the breeze caresses the willow trees by the pond'), followed by the characters Xihuang of Zhang Xihuang, and two seals reading Zhang Zonglue yin and Xihuang, the surface with lustrous patina

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 30th October 2000, lot 277.

Apart from 1 long shallow age crack extending from the base on the side with the inscription, the overall condition is very good. The interior is stained with ink from years of use. The actual size is about 20% smaller than the catalogue illustration.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Brushpots made by the bamboo carver Zhang Zonglue, whose hao was Xihuang, are amongst the finest carvings produced during the early Qing dynasty. The inscription on this piece can be translated as follows:   

Lihua yuan luo rong rong yue, 
Liushui chi tang dan dan feng. 
The moon shines softly on the Lihua garden,
the breeze caresses the willow trees by the pond. 
Signed Xi Huang

Made in the liuqing (reserve-green) technique, whereby the carver manipulates the contrasting colours of the smooth greenish bamboo skin and the darker and more fibrous inner layer of the stalk, this brushpot is possibly one of the finest carvings extant today by the 17^th century master bamboo carver Zhang Xihuang. Zhang created a 'picture' on bamboo that closely imitates the effects of calligraphy and traditional Chinese ink painting through the skilful manipulation of the amount of skin that is retained or cut away in the process. A native of Jiangyin in southern Jiangsu province, Zhang is credited with the development of this new carving technique called liuqing.

For examples of Zhang's work, see a brushpot bearing his signature carved with the composition of a mansion among a rocky landscape illustrated in a number of major publications including Craig Clunas, Art in China, Oxford, 1997, pl. 102, and in R. Soame Jenyns, Chinese Art: The Minor Arts II, London, 1965, pl. 198; and another brushpot in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, depicting the scholars' outing recorded in the famous Ode to the Pavilion of the Inebriated Old Man by Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), included in the museum's collection database published on its official website. Compare also a brushpot in the Shanghai Museum decorated in the liuqing technique illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji. Zhu mu ya jiao qi, vol. 11, Beijing, 1987, p. 8, pl. 8; and another from the collection of Dr. Ip Yee published in Ip Yee and Laurence C.S. Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving, Part 1, Hong Kong, 1978, pl. 83 and col. Pl. 25, together with slender brushpots signed Zhang Xihuang, col. pls. 16 and 17, in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

See also a brushpot carved with a continuous mountain landscape sold in these rooms, 10^th April 2006, lot 1654; and another dated to 1676 and signed by Zhang, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28^th October 2002, lot 748.