OBJECTS FOR THE SCHOLAR'S DESK, Hong Kong 2018
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Playthings

A LARGE BAMBOO ROOT MOUNTAIN

17TH CENTURY

HEIGHT: 14.5CM

The large bamboo root is pierced and carved in high relief of a scholar with loose robes exposing a protruding belly and seated at ease with a hand resting on his raised knee next to an attendant brewing tea, all set in a rockwork alcove beneath a slanted gnarled pine tree. The bamboo root is patinated to a deep caramel colour.

The subject matter alludes to the poet Tao Yuanming 陶淵明, known as Tao Qian 陶潛 (372-427), who was one of the greatest poets of the Six Dynasties. He abandoned his government position to live a secluded Daoist life in the mountains in pursuit of self-cultivation.

SIMILAR EXAMPLE
A cylindrical brushpot with a similar design is published in Bamboo Carving of China, 1983, p. 123, Catalogue No. 66.

PROVENANCE
Feng Wen Tang Collection

十七世紀 竹根圓雕陶潛品茗圖山子