A LACQUERED BAMBOO RETICULATED BRUSH POT, BITONG, MID-QINGChina, 18th century. Masterfully carved around the exterior in varying levels of relief depicting a scene from the Lanting Xu, 'Orchid Pavilion Preface', enclosing a multitude of scholars engaged in leisurely pursuits along a stream within a mountainous landscape with pavilions amid craggy rockwork and dense clusters of pine trees.Provenance: French private collection. Condition: Good condition with old wear, natural age cracks, chips, losses, old fillings. The fine patina grown to a warm honey-golden color.Weight: 849.5 gDimensions: Height 18 cmThe present lot took its inspiration from the very well-known preface Lanting Xu (Preface to the Orchid Pavilion) composed by the most celebrated Chinese calligrapher, Wang Xizhi (c. 303-361), regarded as 'the Sage of Calligraphy'. The scene illustrated on the brush pot took place in the ninth year of the Yonghe reign, of the Eastern Jin dynasty, when forty-two scholars were invited to the Orchid Pavilion (Lanting), near Shanyin, Zhejiang province, for the Spring Purification Festival. Scholars were required to take part in a poetry competition and a drinking contest with wine cups flowing down a winding creek. Those who failed to come up with a poem would have to drink in forfeit.Lanting Xu was one of the most celebrated works of literature and had a profound influence on later generations. Literati thereafter copied this canonical preface onto stone and ink-rubbings, table screens, ink cakes, and many other scholarly objects, see for example a 'Lanting Gathering' ink-rubbing compilation dated to the late Ming dynasty (1592), illustrated by G. Tsang and H. Moss, Art from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 2011, pp.66-69, pl.28. This highly favored subject matter was also used as a decoration on Imperial works of art made of various materials including jade, porcelain, lacquer and bamboo. The impact continued into the Qing dynasty where the Qianlong emperor, who was known for his admiration for Wang Xizhi's talent, also commissioned to build a Floating Cup Pavilion, Liubei Ting, in the Pavilion of the Purification Ceremony, Xishang Ting in the Forbidden City. See N. Berliner, The Emperor's Private Paradise: Treasures from the Forbidden City, New Haven and London, 2010, pp. 96-97.The present brush pot exemplifies the lively craftsmanship during the early to mid-Qing dynasty, demonstrating a high level of vibrant and crisp carving skills with a naturalistic rendering of pine trees, rockwork and flowing water.Auction result comparison: Compare with a related bamboo brush pot depicting the same subject, at Bonhams Hong Kong in Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art on 2 June 2016, lot 25, sold for HKD 237,500.清代中期竹雕筆筒 中國,十八世紀。雕刻生動形象,浮雕上描繪蘭亭集會場景,許多學者沿著崎山路散步,清談,山中可見岩石和松樹包圍的亭子,山間小溪。 來源:法國私人收藏 品相:狀況良好,有舊磨損,自然老化裂紋,磕損,舊填料。 溫暖的蜜金色包漿。 重量:849.5 克 尺寸:高18 厘米 拍賣結果比較:比較一個主題相似的竹製筆筒,於2016年6月2日在香港邦瀚斯Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art拍場,拍號25,成交價HKD 237,500。