A large carved bamboo brushpot 17th Century

naturalistically carved in the form of a broad pine trunk, with a thick, gnarled and twisted bifurcating branch issuing from the lip in high relief, the dense clumps of pine needles spreading across the surface of the cup, the trunk signed Sansong zhi, the wood light brown in tone 

The present piece is signed by the carver, Zhu Sansong (active 1573-1619), the youngest of the three Zhu masters of the late 16th century of the Jiading, Jiangsu province.  His surviving works, and those of this father, Zhu Ying, are extremely rare.  Compared to his father, Sansong's style is particurly developed in its use of high relief, such as this present piece.