Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
This auction has ended. View lot details
You may also be interested in
Lot 316†
A FINE BAMBOO CARVED WRIST REST 18th century
2 November 2021, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£5,000 - £8,000
Looking for a similar item?
Our Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
A FINE BAMBOO CARVED WRIST REST
18th century
Carved in relief with leafy bamboo stems amongst rockwork extending up the left side of curved shaft, incised inscription to one side which reads: 竹解虛心是我師, which may be translated as: 'Bamboo, understanding its core to be empty, is my teacher' and further inscribed: 潤田主人手置 (The wrist rest of Run Tian).
27.2cm (10 3/4in) long.
Carved in relief with leafy bamboo stems amongst rockwork extending up the left side of curved shaft, incised inscription to one side which reads: 竹解虛心是我師, which may be translated as: 'Bamboo, understanding its core to be empty, is my teacher' and further inscribed: 潤田主人手置 (The wrist rest of Run Tian).
27.2cm (10 3/4in) long.
Footnotes
十八世紀 竹雕臂擱
Provenance: Dr John William Hawksley Grice (1891-1976)
來源：John William Hawksley Grice醫生（1891-1976）舊藏
Dr J.W.H.Grice and his wife Kathleen moved to Tianjin in 1922, where he worked as a doctor for 30 years. During this period he formed an important collection of ivory and bamboo carvings, before returning to the UK in 1952. A significant part of his collection was gifted to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum, London (see for example a bamboo 'prunus' wrist rest, 17th/18th century in the British Museum, acc.no.1953,0414.2). In 1954 he published an essay on 'Chinese Bamboo Carving' in Country Life.
1922年，J.W.H.Grice醫生和夫人Kathleen移居天津，並在天津執業長達30年，直至1952年回到英國。在此期間，他逐漸蒐集形成了牙雕和竹雕藝術的重要收藏，並將其藏品中一大部分贈與倫敦
維多利亞和阿爾伯特博物館和大英博物館（如大英博物館館藏之十七/十八世紀竹雕梅紋臂擱，藏品編號1953,0414.2）。其撰寫的一篇關於中國竹雕的文章曾於1954年發表在《Country Life》雜誌上。
The motif of bamboo on wrist rests was a popular one as the bamboo encapsulated the literati ideal of moral uprightness. It bends with the wind but does not break, symbolising resistance and moral integrity as well as loyalty. Its hollow interior hides nothing, indicating honesty. See a related bamboo wrist rest carved with bamboo, 18th century, illustrated by Ip Yee and L.C.S.Tam, Chinese Bamboo Carving, part I, Hong Kong, 1978, p.331, no.98.