18TH-19TH CENTURY

The present vessel is highly unusual in that the natural form of the burl closely resembles a tripod censer with handles. Such a work seemingly exemplifies the scholar's ideal of form, echoing nature and vice versa. A significantly more worked example of a 'natural-form' tripod vessel and cover in bamboo is illustrated in Bamboo & Wood Carvings of China and the East, Spink and Son Ltd., London, 1979, p. 55, no. 204.