A PETRIFIED LINGZHI FUNGUS WASHER 17TH CENTURY

The lingzhi fungus, Ganoderma lucidum, also known as the "magical mushroom of immortality" was believed to possess magical qualities. In Shen Nong's Herbal Classic, written in the Han Dynasty, out of all the hundreds of plants, animals and minerals, lingzhi  was ranked as the most important medicine.  It was used to treat a variety of ailments and thus earned the reputation as an immortality-inducing herb and an extremely popular ingredient in Taoist recipes for longevity. 

It was also believed that deer were the only ones who could find these mushrooms.  In Chinese art, deer are often portrayed clutching lingzhi in their mouths.  Deer, therefore also became an auspicious symbol for longevity. The fungus and its long stem also became adapted for use as a sceptre and evolved into the ruyi sceptre ('the wish-granting sceptre') cherished by the literati as an auspicious symbol, as well as a symbol of authority and wisdom.

Vessels made from actual lingzhi, are not common, since the fungus head tends to be too thin to be able to be hollowed out.  A petrified lingzhi joined to a boxwood handle in the collection of Richard Rosenblum, is illustrated in Valerie Doran, Art of the Natural World, Boston, 2001, fig. 32. 

The two characters inscribed on the side of the lingzhi represent the signature of Pu Cheng (b. 1582), zi Zhong Qian, a native of Jinling, Jiangsu province.  Pu Cheng was particularly skilled in carving fan frames and perfume holders.  He is also regarded as the founder of the Jinling school of bamboo carving.  For example of a bamboo carving by Pu Cheng, see a very fine wrist-rest delicately carved with a scholar under a pine tree, in the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, illustrated in Ip Yee and Laurence C.S. Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving, part 1, Hong Kong, 1078, pl.22.  Compare also a small brushpot by Pu Cheng, sold in these rooms, 31st October 2004, lot 187.