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A CARVED BAMBOO 'SPRING EVENING BANQUET' BRUSHPOT, BITONG 17th/18th century image 1
A CARVED BAMBOO 'SPRING EVENING BANQUET' BRUSHPOT, BITONG 17th/18th century image 2
Lot 73

A CARVED BAMBOO 'SPRING EVENING BANQUET' BRUSHPOT, BITONG
17th/18th century

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

Sold for £9,600 inc. premium

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A CARVED BAMBOO 'SPRING EVENING BANQUET' BRUSHPOT, BITONG

17th/18th century
The cylindrical vessel resting on three tall feet, expertly carved around the exterior in high and low relief with a scene depicting a gathering of scholars in a pine grove, seated around a table set with a bowl of peaches and lingzhi, drinking and in jovial conversation, Li Bai depicted sleeping to one side, two boys in attendance to the other side, all amongst gnarled overhanging pines and dramatically angular rockwork, the vessel of deep caramel hue.
14.8cm (5 7/8in) high.

Footnotes

十七/十八世紀 竹雕「春夜宴桃李園」筆筒

This bamboo-carved brushpot, depicting sages drinking together, likely alludes to Li Bai's famous 'Spring Evening Banquet'. Composed around 733, the poem reflects on the fleeting nature of life, capturing a joyous spring evening where Li Bai and his companions drank wine, composed poetry, and savoured the fragrance of peach blossoms in the air. The gathering was not without its playful stakes — those unable to compose a poem were humorously subjected to a drinking forfeit, adding a spirited and convivial touch to the scene. See a for example, a blue and white brushpot with a similar scene, Kangxi, illustrated by Chen Runmin, Gugong bowuyuan cang Qingdai ciqi leixuan, Qing Shunzhi Kangxi chao qinghuaci, vol.1, Beijing, 2004, pl.211.

See also a very similar bamboo brushpot with the same design and possibly by the same hand, late Ming dynasty, early 17th century, illustrated by Sydney L. Moss Ltd., The Literati Mode: Chinese Scholar Paintings, Calligraphy and Desk Objects, London, 1986, pp.152-153, no.42.

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