A FINELY CARVED BAMBOO 'BOATING' BRUSH POT BY WANG JICHANG, QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD |

intricately carved with a majestic lakeshore landscape, depicted with an elderly man and his attendant looking out from a small open pavilion nestled in a fenced garden grown with bamboo and pines towards two boating parties on the lake, one boat with its sail raised up the mast seated with eight figures, the other smaller fishing boat being pulled by two boys running across a small bridge, all below rocky mountains and swirling clouds and above a seal mark reading 'Wang Jichang Zhi', together with a rubbing mounted on a handscroll

Sotheby's Hong Kong, 31st October 2004, lot 192.

The brush pot is in very good overall condition with expected old age cracks extending from the foot. There are also minute flakes to the fragile edges of the vessel and carving.
"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 cylindrical brushb pot is signed Wang Jichang, a bamboo carver active in the mid-Qing dynasty and a native of Jiading, Jiangsu province. In this bucolic boating and fishing scene, Wang skillfully picks out elements of the motif in a range of depths and textures. Note the variation in cuts between the trees, evoking a sense of wild forest, and the carving around the figures that brings them into focus as the principal actors in this narrative.     Compare a brush pot carved with a similar boating scene, but signed Shanmei, in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, illustrated in Ip Yee & Laurence C. S. Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving, Part I, Hong Kong, 1978, pl. 40, together with a slightly larger example, pl. 67; and three brush pots sold in these rooms, the first of slightly smaller size, 14th May 1983, lot 648, and the second and third of larger size, 25th May 1979, lot 874, and 10th April 2006, lot 1648.