SIGNED ZHI CI'AN, REPUBLIC PERIOD

Details

A CARVED BAMBOO WRIST REST
SIGNED ZHI CI'AN, REPUBLIC PERIOD
The glossy, brown bamboo wrist rest has a convex top carved with archaic objects imitating stone carvings together with a mirror, beneath an incised inscription praising the longevity of bronze and stone, a dedication to Zhuyingxuan zhuren ('The master of the Hall of Bamboo’s Shadow'), and a signature Ci'an, and a seal, Zhi.
11 7/16 in. (29.1 cm.) high

Provenance

Collection of Ambassador Ti-Tsun Li (1901-1981), and thence by descent to the present owner.

Lot Essay

Zhi Ci'an (1903-1974) was an accomplished painter and carver who specialized in seal and bamboo carving, with his best known works found in bamboo fans and wrist rests. On commenting the declining qualities of the bamboo carving in the second half of the nineteenth century, the Chinese art connoisseur Wang Shixiang praised Zhi Ci'an for breathing new life into this category in the twentieth century.

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