A SET OF BOXWOOD 'PRUNUS AND BAMBOO' FAN FRAMES ATTRIBUTED TO ZHOU YI, LATE QING DYNASTY

one of the boxwood frames picked out above the smooth handle as an inverted flowering tree with naturalistic roots, burls and leafy stems bearing a single blossom, the other frame end carved as a bamboo root growing slender shoots and leaves, the ribs and inside edges of the frames of hardwood, the fan inscribed with a poem

Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Fung Ping Shan Museum, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1986, cat. no. 25.

The unusually fine carving and artistry of this fan frame suggests the hand of Zhou Yi of Changsha, the famous carver of wood and ivory from the late-Qing dynasty. A signed ivory fan frame is illustrated in Gerard Tsang and Hugh Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, pl. 58, together with an unsigned frame carved in wood attributed to Zhou, pl. 25. See also a paper fan with boxwood mounts attributed to the school of Zhou Yi, sold in these rooms, 8th October 2010, lot 2197, and an ivory 'pine tree trunk and cicadas' wristrest, sold in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 150, also from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat collection. So far, however, the ivory set is the only published work bearing his signature, and he is recorded as having rarely signed his carvings.