A BAMBOO BRUSHPOT BY ZHOU HAO QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD, DATED TO THE JIAZI YEAR (1744)

the sides carved as a cliff face, with large and small rocks, deftly executed in varied relief with dense modelling strokes, with an inscription signed Zhi Yan and dated to the jiazi year (corresponding to 1744)

Collection of Sixue Zhai, Taipei, 1987.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 25^th November 1987, lot 488.

The overall condition is very good with only a couple short age cracks along the foot. The patina is very lustrous.
"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 (zi Jinzhan, hao Xueqiao, Zhiyan, Yaofeng shanren, Ranqi). Zhou, a native of Jiading, Jiangsu province, is recorded as having been a man of free and uninhibited character, and one of many talents. He 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. Zhou wielded his carving tools with such confidence that his strokes were compared to iron wires. He became known for 'using the knife like a brush'. It was also said that Zhou attained with his knife what was unattainable by the brush and he applied the technique of painting to bamboo carving. 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.

According to Wang Shixiang and Wan-go Weng in Bamboo Carvings of China, New York, 1983, p. 32, Zhou's landscape is carved using the technique of yinke or 'negative carving'. His texturing of rocks is achieved mainly by the use of a single scoop of the knife with the result in variation in widths, depth, length and directions at will. For a rubbing of a brushpot carved by him in 1730 see ibid., p. 33, fig. 17; and a brushpot dated to 1743 published in Zhongguo meishu quanj. Zhu mu ya jiao qi, vol. 11, Beijing, 1987, pl. 22, also with a rubbing.

The present brushpot is closely related to one in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in The National Palace Museum Monthly of Chinese Art, no. 147, June 1995, pp. 58-59. Both brushpots are fashioned in a painterly style with a combination of deep carving and surface 'brushwork'. Compare further pieces carved by Zhou in the National Palace Museum published in Ming Qing zhuke yishu, Taipei, 1999, p. 218, a seal, pp. 219-212 a brushpot with bamboo design, and pp. 222-225, a brushpot with a landscape design.