AN INSCRIBED BAMBOO 'NARCISSUS' BRUSHPOT BY YUNGU, QING DYNASTY, DATED TO THE JIHAI YEAR (IN ACCORDANCE WITH 1779)

formed from a bamboo node with the diaphragm serving as a natural base, carved with two bulbs of flowering narcissus and a blossoming leafy branch, the upper margins with a poetic inscription yueming boshang zheng liu xiang ('moonlight upon a current of fragrance'), followed by the date Jihai liuyue zhonghuan and signed with the artist's sobriquet, Yungu, patinated to an auburn-brown colour

A private Japanese collection.
Brian Harkins, London, February 2008.

Skilfully carved with narcissus flowers in bold and broad strokes, this brushpot bears the signature of the scholar Yang Qian, from Jiading, Jiangsu province. The son of the master bamboo carver Yang Yinjun, zi Shengrong, hao Gulin, who lived in Xinjingli, Yang followed the footsteps of his father, and became especially renowned for seal carving. Known to have used a variety of media, Yang’s seals were praised by contemporary scholars as having a marvellous antique feel as he used a single bladed method (dandao ga), with intaglio characters. Yang’s seals were sought after by well-known scholars, including Jin Nong (1687-1763), one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, who was in possession of two seals carved by Yang, and Luo Pin (1733-99), another member of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. He was also noted as a skilled calligrapher, excelling at seal script, and a painter of fine plum blossoms and bamboo.

The narcissus flower (shuixian) is a symbol of good fortune and prosperity and is the flower of the New Year. It is associated with longevity, as the character xian in its name also signifies immortal hence a bunch of narcissus symbolise a group of immortals.