A carved cinnabar lacquer brush and cover, Late Ming Dynasty, 17th century

A carved cinnabar lacquer brush and cover, Late Ming Dynasty, 17th century. Photo Sotheby's

the slender cylindrical form finely carved with a continuous scene of scholars with attendants amidst rockwork conversing beneath towering pines and wutong trees, all against sky and water diaper grounds, the fitted cover similarly decorated (2). Length 9 1/2 in., 24.1 cm. Estimation 6,000 — 8,000 USD

Provenance: Idemitsu Museum, Tokyo, Japan.

Exposition: Roger Keverne Ltd., London, June 2004, no. 116.

For similar examples see James C.Y. Watt and Barbara Brennan Ford, East Asian Lacquer, The Florence and Herbert Irving Collection, The Metropolitan Museum, New York, 1991, no. 30, p. 89. and Mike Baron and Bernard Chang, 2000 Years of Chinese Lacquer, Hong Kong 1993, no. 71, p. 138.

Sotheby's.Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art.New York | 18 mars 2014 - www.sothebys.com