QING DYNASTY, 17TH-18TH CENTURY

The present brush pot is carved in varying layers of reliefs with a continuous scene depicting a scholar crossing a bridge with his young attendant carrying a qin, to visit a friend. The carver ingeniously presents the mouth rim as layers of rocks, which serves as the rocky backdrop of the entire scene. Similar treatment is found another bamboo brush pot carved with the scene of red cliff from the collection of Ye Gongchuo, which is illustrated by Wang Shixiang, Zhuke jianshang, Taipei, 1997, no. 33.