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Brushpot
On View In:
Gallery 216
Artist:   Tung Wen  
Title:   Brushpot  
Date:   1763 (dated by inscription)  
Medium:   Carved bamboo  
Dimensions:   6 7/16 x 5 5/8 in. (16.35 x 14.29 cm) (overall, oval)  
Credit Line:   Gift of Ruth and Bruce Dayton  
Location:   Gallery 216  

The Chinese made brushpots from a variety of materials including hardwoods, bamboo, and jade. Bamboo brushpots have a particularly long history and those with carved décor became popular with the literati during the sixteenth century. This finely detailed container shows scholars and attendants in a mountain retreat beneath overhanging rocks and another group of four scholars in a bamboo grove listening to lute music. Narrative scenes like this relate closely to printed designs in books from the late Ming and early Ch'ing dynasties. The inscription, carved by Tung Wen in kai-shu, or regular script, on the large rock, reads:

The lotus estate in cool summer

In the Kuei-wei year (1793) in the summer of the sixth month

In the spirit of Chang Chiao's brush.
Chang Chiao, better known as Wang Meng (1308-85), was one of the most highly revered calligraphers and painters of the fourteenth century.

Artist/Creator(s)     
Name:   Wen, Tung  
Nationality:   Chinese  
Life Dates:   active 18th century  
 

Object Description  
  
Inscriptions:   Inscription; Signature carved in kaishu on a large rockface oppisite the carved scenes, 'The Lotus Estate in Cool Summer/ i  
Classification:   Woodwork  
Physical Description:   detailed with scenes of scholars and attendants in a mountain retreat, with a central pavilion nestled amidst the overhanging rocks; a scene of three scholars seated listening to another play the qin in a bamboo grove; two other scholars are walking along a mountain path with two attendants following; reddish-brown color  
Creation Place:   Asia, China, , ,  
Accession #:   95.95.6  
Owner:   The Minneapolis Institute of Arts  

 


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