Huanghuali brushpot

A huanghuali brushpot of “natural” form, the exterior carved with knots and branches to simulate the trunk of a tree. The circular hole in the centre of the base is fitted with a flanged plug of a different wood. The brushpot has a honey-brown patina.

In Arts from the Scholar’s Studio a comparable example of a brushpot is illustrated, this one executed in zitan.1 The authors state that “The natural-looking gnarled and knotty appearance of this piece is wholly contrived” 2 The present beautiful brushpot is equally and very effectively carved to look like the gnarled trunk of a tree.

1. Moss, H. and Tsang, G. Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Oriental Ceramic Society, Hong Kong, 1986, no 71, p. 108
2. Moss, H. and Tsang, G. op. cit, p. 108