A CINNABAR LACQUER BRUSH AND COVER

MING DYNASTY, 15TH CENTURY

LENGTH OF BRUSH (WITH CAP): 21.5CM

The brush is deeply carved from a single section covered with layers of vermillion lacquer. The lower handle of the brush depicts two scenes within bracketed registers above a diaper ground. One scene shows an elderly bearded scholar meditating against a cliff overlooking a waterfall landscape. The reverse scene shows two attendants, one holding a qin wrapped in cloth followed by a younger attendant carrying a basket.

The upper handle and the brush cap are carved in similar fashion. The brush cap depicts a perched bird and a camellia within a shroud of thick, leafy foliage, extending to the upper handle carved with budding camellia flowers. The tip and neck of the brush are decorated with a guri design carved in high relief.

SIMILAR EXAMPLE
A cinnabar lacquer brush of similar shape and carving style depicting a scholar and his acolyte is published in Chugoku Bijutsu no Iki: Bunbo Seika 中国美術の粋：文房精華, Tokyo, 2007, p. 16-17, Catalogue No.

明十五世紀剔紅花卉人物毛筆