A RARE INCISED BAMBOO BRUSHPOT BY ZHOU HAO (1685-1773) QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD, DATED TO THE BINGXU YEAR (1766)

of circular form raised on three small feet, deftly decorated on the exterior with a large pine tree issuing on a craggy hill above three scholars conversing near a waterfall, another scholar approaching crossing a footbridge accompanied by an attendant carrying a qin, while two other scholars are seated on a rocky promontory contemplating a hilly landscape in the distance, the reverse incised with a two-column verse signed Zhou Zhiyan (Zhou Hao) and dated Qianlong bingxu (in accordance with 1766), all executed in swift incisions on a beautiful section of amber-coloured bamboo finely textured with a lustrous vertical grain and a smooth stippled rounded rim

The brushpot is in very good overall condition. There are a few light occasional scratches or minute dents to the exterior and a couple of ink stains to the interior rim. There are a few expected small age crackles extending from the base. There is an inventory number '399' inscribed in red paint under the base.
"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."

This exceptional brushpot is the work of Zhou Hao (1685-1773), also known as Zhou Ran (ziJinzhan, hao Xueqiao, Zhiyan, Yaofeng shanren, Ranqi). Zhou, a native of Jiading, Jiangsu province, was skilled in the art of calligraphy and painting which he studied under the early Qing Dynasty artist Wang Hui (1632-1717). He was also talented in carving, especially landscapes in the style of the Song and Yuan masters. For the rendering of landscapes, he developed a new approach to carving called ‘iron stroke and light depiction’ (liuqing yang wen), which entailed the use of a blade to incise heavy and light strokes to outline and highlight the motif, enabling him to create works that closely resembled paintings. The prominent historian Qian Daxin (1728-1804), himself a native of Jiading, in his Qianyan tang wenji [Literary Collection from the Hall of Intense Study], wrote, ‘In our district bamboo carving has been done using painting methods starting with Zhu Songlin…But the Mountain Recluse [Zhou Hao] came up with even more new concepts, so that in rendering landscapes, trees, rocks and clumps of bamboos he used his knife as he would use a brush. Moreover, without relying on a preliminary sketch he spontaneously fashioned hills and valleys, his axe-stroke technique rendering the surface now pale, now dark, now indented, now protruding’. 

Dr. Ip Yee and Laurence C.S. Tam in Chinese Bamboo Carving, Part II, Hong Kong, 1982, pp. 56-59, note that Zhou was partly responsible for encouraging the use of the literati Southern School paintings on bamboo carvings.  Zhou's work was considered original in concept by his contemporaries. He came to be seen as someone who indisputably raised the level of bamboo workmanship to new heights.  He was also a very accomplished and important scholar / painter.  His work has been illustrated by Paul Moss, The Single Feather of Auspicious Light, Sydney L. Moss, Ltd., 2010, nos. 73, 73a, and 73b.

The inscription found on the present brushpot can be translated as follows:

'Made at a deeply secluded place among jade-green vines.'  and is dated to the mid-summer of the bingwu year of the Qianlong reign (corresponding to 6^th/7^th July 1766). It is an excerpt from the poem ‘An Outing to the West Studio of Recluse Li on Green Mountain at Qiangtang’, composed by the celebrated Tang scholar Du Fu (788-860).

Brushpots signed Zhou Hao are held in important museums and private collections worldwide; see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2001, pl. 53; one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in the Museum’s exhibition Jiangxin yu xianggong Ming Qing diaoke zhan. Zhu mu guohe pian, Taipei, 2009, cat. no. 13; another in the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Chinese Art. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhino, vol. 11, Beijing, 1987, pl. 22; and a fourth brushpot, from the collection of Simon Kwan, included in the exhibition Ming and Qing Bamboo, Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2000, cat. no. 92.