17TH CENTURY
HEIGHT: 14.5CM
The ovoid brushpot is carved from a single cylindrical section and carved in openwork on one side with a scene of a seated scholar playing a zither, flanked by an incense set and a tea warmer, while a lady peeks in from a doorframe, all within a central medallion. The reverse is inscribed with the prose Feng qiu huang 鳳求凰 ‘Male Phoenix Searches for Its Mate’, Zhiyin 徵音 (fourth note in the pentatonic scale, i. e., tuning using the fourth string) and can be translated as:
| 有美人兮見之不忘 | There is a beauty, oh, who once seen is not forgotten, |
| 一日不見兮思之如狂 | So if a single day I see her not, oh, my mind seems to lose control. |
| 鳳飛翺翔兮四海求凰 | This male phoenix soared, oh, searching the world over for his mate, |
| 無奈佳人兮不在東牆 | For, alas, such a fair one, oh, was not just next door. |
| 將琴代語兮聊寫衷腸 | Now I take up zither to speak for me, oh, and describe my innermost heart |
| 何時見許兮慰我徬徨 | When shall I get her answer, oh, to comfort my nervous pacing! |
| 願言配德兮𢹂手相將 | I would say to her, let us match virtues, oh, and join to hold hands, |
| 不得于飛兮使我淪亡 | For if we fail to take flight together, oh, it would make me despair of life. |
The brushpot is well patinated to a deep reddish-brown tone.
PROVENANCE
A Private Japanese Collection
十七世紀 竹開窗縷空雕鳳求凰詩文筆筒
