Cloisonné enamel and palm wood (zongmu) brushpot
China, Kangxi period, 1662 – 1722

A brushpot of cylindrical form, consisting of a palm wood sleeve, which is fitted around a central copper tube. The dark wood is left in its natural state with irregular, elongated openings. Cloisonné enamel mounts are fitted to the top and the base of the brushpot. Both mounts feature elaborate and finely detailed archaistic, stylised dragon patterns in lapis-lazuli enamel on a white ground. The base mount has three short stepped feet.

• The exquisite quality of the cloisonné enamel mounts on this unusual brush pot points to a Palace workshop manufacture. The combination of two such different materials is rare; no similar brushpot appears to be recorded. Combining a fairly humble species of wood such as palm wood with sumptuous enamel mounts to create a desk object would very much have appealed to the sophisticated scholar. It is rare to find this particular, very effective colour combination in enamel; it can be seen on two cloisonné enamel wall-vases in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taiwan.1

1 Chen, H-S. Enamel Ware in The Ming and Ch’ing Dynasties, the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, no. 46 and 48, pp. 124 and 126