Skip to main content
Bonhams
Search

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

A rare Chinese group of the Tyrolean Dancers, Qianlong period, circa 1752
FOUR CHINESE YIXING WARES Late Qing dynasty - 20th century

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

FIVE BURMESE AND THAI GILTWOOD FIGURES OF BUDDHA Late 19th/20th century
TWO JAPANESE CELADON GLAZED STUDIO CERAMICS
Huang Shanshou (1855-1919) Dragons in Clouds
Birodo Yuzen Meiji era (1868-1912)
TWO JAPANESE BRONZE SCHOLAR'S OBJECTS Meiji/Taisho era
A KOREAN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND COPPER-RED-DECORATED 'GRAPEVINE' GLOBULAR JAR Late Joseon dynasty
A JAPANESE SIX-PANEL 'FARM SCENE' FOLDING SCREEN Late 19th/early 20th century
A KOREAN FOUR-PANEL 'PEONIES AND CALLIGRAPHY' FOLDING SCREEN Late Joseon dynasty
AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL 'LADIES' SNUFF BOTTLE, SIGNED YE ZHONGSAN 1919
A CHINESE YELLOW GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE 19th century
A FAMILLE-ROSE ENAMELED PORCELAIN COVERED BALUSTER JAR 18th/19th century
A PAINTED LACQUERED-WOOD FOUR-DOOR CABINET Early 20th century
Previous Lot
Next Lot
A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE ZITAN BRUSHPOT, BITONG 18th century image 1
A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE ZITAN BRUSHPOT, BITONG 18th century image 2
A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE ZITAN BRUSHPOT, BITONG 18th century image 3
A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE ZITAN BRUSHPOT, BITONG 18th century image 4
A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE ZITAN BRUSHPOT, BITONG 18th century image 5
Lot 192*

A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE ZITAN BRUSHPOT, BITONG
18th century

Fine Chinese Art
15 May 2025, 11:30 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £25,600 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

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 specialist

Ask about this lot

A MAGNIFICENT AND RARE ZITAN BRUSHPOT, BITONG

18th century
Exquisitely carved and pierced in high relief as a section of a gnarled tree trunk, enveloped by large lingzhi stems and heads, blossoming prunus branches and bamboo leaves, the lustrous wood of rich dark chocolate-brown tone, with scattered silver grains.
14.5cm (5 3/4in) high.

Footnotes

十七/十八世紀 紫檀雕樹樁式筆筒

Provenance: Arts of China, Hong Kong
Dr. Thomas Navratil, Zürich, acquired from the above in 1987, Hong Kong (col.no.77)
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London
Teddy Hahn (1933-2012), acquired from the above 15 November 1999

Published and Illustrated: Orientations, 1987 (Advertisement, The Arts of China, Hong Kong)
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., Escape from the Dusty World: Chinese Paintings and Literati Works of Art, London, 1999, no.40

來源： Arts of China，香港
Thomas Navratil博士，蘇黎世，於1987年獲得於上處，香港（收藏編號77）
倫敦古董商Sydney L. Moss Ltd.
Teddy Hahn（1933-2012），於1999年11月15日從上處獲得

出版著錄：《Orientations》，1987年（廣告頁The Arts of China 香港）
Sydney L. Moss Ltd.，《Escape from the Dusty World. Chinese Paintings and Literati Works of Art》，倫敦，1999年，編號40

This brushpot is crafted from the highly prized and esteemed zitan wood, a timber reserved exclusively for the master craftsmen of the zaobanchu (Imperial Palace Workshops). Renowned for its jade-like silky texture, exceptionally fine and dense grain, and rich, deep lustre, zitan was the favoured material of the Ming and Qing Courts.

Compare with a large and naturalistically carved zitan brushpot from the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, no.51.

In his 1999 catalogue, Paul Moss remarks on this piece: 'Such a tour de force of pierced zitan is most unusual, and one might suspect it of dating to the nineteenth century, or even later, were it not stylistically and in terms of surface and wear convincing; and but for the fact that adequately large pieces of zitan were hardly obtainable after the 18th century.' See Sydney L. Moss Ltd., Escape from the Dusty World: Chinese Paintings and Literati Works of Art, London, 1999, no.40.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

A rare Chinese group of the Tyrolean Dancers, Qianlong period, circa 1752
FOUR CHINESE YIXING WARES Late Qing dynasty - 20th century
FIVE BURMESE AND THAI GILTWOOD FIGURES OF BUDDHA Late 19th/20th century
TWO JAPANESE CELADON GLAZED STUDIO CERAMICS
Huang Shanshou (1855-1919) Dragons in Clouds
Birodo Yuzen Meiji era (1868-1912)
TWO JAPANESE BRONZE SCHOLAR'S OBJECTS Meiji/Taisho era
A KOREAN UNDERGLAZE-BLUE AND COPPER-RED-DECORATED 'GRAPEVINE' GLOBULAR JAR Late Joseon dynasty
A JAPANESE SIX-PANEL 'FARM SCENE' FOLDING SCREEN Late 19th/early 20th century
A KOREAN FOUR-PANEL 'PEONIES AND CALLIGRAPHY' FOLDING SCREEN Late Joseon dynasty
AN INSIDE-PAINTED ROCK CRYSTAL 'LADIES' SNUFF BOTTLE, SIGNED YE ZHONGSAN 1919
A CHINESE YELLOW GLASS SNUFF BOTTLE 19th century
A FAMILLE-ROSE ENAMELED PORCELAIN COVERED BALUSTER JAR 18th/19th century
A PAINTED LACQUERED-WOOD FOUR-DOOR CABINET Early 20th century