17th Century
Length: 24.5cm
The wristrest is masterfully carved from a long bamboo section in
the shape of a pine tree trunk. A cluster of pine needles issuing
from a gnarled branch curl around the wristrest. A leafy bamboo
section and a flowering prunus branch are loosely tied to the trunk
of the pine with a sash, thus forming the ‘Three Friends of Winter’
motif. The bamboo is patinated to a reddish-brown colour.
The ‘Three Friends of Winter’ is represented by the pine, the prunus
and bamboo – three plants resilient to the harsh winter season.
Similar Example
A blue and white porcelain example of a vase painted in famille rose
enamel with a cloth wrap dated to the Qianlong period from the
collection of the Paris Musée National des arts asiatiques Guimet is
published in The Imperial Packing Art of the Qing Dynasty
清代宮庭包装艺術/ 故宮博物院編, Beijing, 2000, pp. 160-161,
Catalogue No. 66.
PROVENANCE
A Japanese Private Collection
Feng Wen Tang Collection
| 十七世紀 竹雕歲寒三友臂擱 |
