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Brush Holder

A work made of wood (huanghuali).
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of wood (huanghuali).

Date:

Qing dynasty (1644–1911), early 19th century

Artist:

Ma Guozhen
Chinese (active 1796-1821)

About this artwork

For the educated elite of Late Imperial China, stationery objects were not only essential utensils for writing and painting, but also emblems of cultural identity. While members of the imperial court and the newly affluent favored works of lavish materials and overtly decorative styles, true men of letters cherished items with subtle sophistication. This small cylindrical brush pot, crafted from dark huanghuali wood, epitomizes such literati aesthetic with its spare and simply incised imagery. The motif of plum blossom carried special meaning for Chinese artists and writers, symbolizing resilience, renewal, and fortitude as the first flower to bloom in late winter’s bleak landscape. These sentiments are expressed in two anonymous poems, which are engraved on opposite sides of the brushpot.

The signature and seal on the pot identify the craftsman as Ma Guozhen, a renowned bamboo carver from Jiading, a city situated between Shanghai and Yangzhou. During Ma’s lifetime, Yangzhou was the center of an innovative group of painters known as the “Yangzhou Eccentrics,” many of whom specialized in painting ink plums. In their spare, expressively acerbic imagery, the angular branches and loop-like blossoms of this brushpot closely mirror the distinctive pictorial style of one of the most renowned Eccentrics, Li Fangying (1695-1754).

Status

On View, Gallery 134

Department

Arts of Asia

Artist

Ming Guozhen

Title

Brush Holder

Place

China (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1799–1850

Medium

Wood (huanghuali)

Dimensions

13.1 × 12.3 cm (5 1/8 × 4 13/16 in.); Diam.: 12.3 cm (4 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by the Asian Art Council of The Art Institute of Chicago, Betsy Nathan, Mr. and Mrs. James E. Breece III and Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Dunn

Reference Number

2009.630

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/199774/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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