A RARE CARVED BAMBOO 'ODE TO THE RED CLIFF' BRUSHPOT QING DYNASTY, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

of cylindrical form and resting on three short feet, masterfully carved and reticulated with a continuous waterscape scene depicting Su Shi's first visit to the Red Cliff as he crosses the sea with his companions and two attendants on a raft, the setting wondrously accentuated with overhanging pine trees growing in various directions and meticulously picked out with waves crashing against looming craggy boulders, the countersunk base incised with a three-character inscription reading yan xia zhu, the patina of a warm reddish-brown colour

Christie's London, 28th April 1980, lot 51.
Ralph M. Chait Galleries, New York.

Another closely related bamboo 'Ode to the Red Cliff' brushpot of identical size and composition in the Shanghai Museum is illustrated in Literati Spirit. Art of Chinese Bamboo Carving, Shanghai, 2001, p. 43, pl. 11. The scene depicts the celebrated scholar-official Su Shi (1032-1101), making an excursion to the Red Cliff. Compare a bamboo brushpot illustrating the same subject matter with a section of the text from the Ode to the Red Cliff, signed Deng Wei, sold at Christie’s New York, 19th September 2007, lot 33; another, from the Lutz collection, sold in our New York rooms, 18th March 2008, lot 49.