CATALOGUE 2014
Qing Dynasty, 18th Century
Height: 18cm
The rootwood brushpot is of wild, irregular form accented throughout with numerous cavities and knots. The exterior is incised with various colophons and can be translated as:
| 入吾室者 | The only one to enter my chamber |
| 但有清風 | Is but the fresh breeze, |
| 對吾飲者 | And the only one to share a drink with me |
| 惟當明月 | Is but the bright moon. |
These four lines are quoted in the biography of Xie Hui 謝譓 (late 5th - early 6th centuries) as said by him; see Nanshi 南史 (History of the Southern Dynasties, 420-589) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975), 20:560
The inscribed words gusong 古松 “Ancient Pine” appears to be referring to the wood itself and does not correlate to the other text.
The brushpot is well patinated to a reddish brown colour.
SIMILAR EXAMPLE
A stylistically similar scrollpot from the Richard Rosenblum collection is published in Art of the Natural World: Resonances of Wild Nature in Chinese Sculptural Art, 2001, Catalogue No. 51
清十八世紀 自然形樹根帶詩文筆筒
