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A DEEPLY CARVED BAMBOO 'BUDAI AND IMMORTAL' BRUSHPOT, BITONG 17th century image 1
A DEEPLY CARVED BAMBOO 'BUDAI AND IMMORTAL' BRUSHPOT, BITONG 17th century image 2
Lot 4

A DEEPLY CARVED BAMBOO 'BUDAI AND IMMORTAL' BRUSHPOT, BITONG
17th century

14 May 2025, 10:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £76,600 inc. premium

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A DEEPLY CARVED BAMBOO 'BUDAI AND IMMORTAL' BRUSHPOT, BITONG

17th century
The vessel resting upon an everted rockwork base, carved in relief with a seated figure facing an Immortal, holding a gourd flask and a lotus stem over his right shoulder, the body in the form of large, craggy rocks and cliffs, with an overhanging, gnarled pine branch above the figures.
15.2cm (6in) high

Footnotes

十七世紀 竹雕和合二仙筆筒

This piece integrates techniques such as high and low relief carving, as well as openwork. The knife work is sharp and precise, with strong, well-defined lines. The composition is dynamic and richly detailed, with a balanced interplay of dense and sparse elements, ranging from roughly hewn rocks to meticulously rendered pine needles. The two figures depicted in the present lot are the Hehe Erxian (和合二仙), also known as the 'Two Immortals of Harmony and Union,' traditionally associated with a long and blissful marriage. These Daoist Immortals trace their origins to the Tang dynasty (618–906) poet-monks, Hanshan (寒山) and Shide (拾得). They were officially canonised as the God of Harmony and Union in the eleventh year of the Yongzheng reign (1733).

See a related bamboo root mountain carving, with figures and rocks similarly carved in high relief, Qing dynasty, illustrated in Literati Spirit: Art of Chinese Bamboo Carving, Shanghai, 2012, p.106, no.43. See also a carved bamboo 'Hehe Erxian' group with similarly posed figures, 17th/18th century, which was sold at Bonhams London, 7 November 2019, lot 96.

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