Wu Zhifan’s brush holder with bamboo carving, bangs and toads

[Wu Zhifan’s bamboo carving brush holder with bangs playing with toads]

Wu Zhifan’s bamboo carving brush holder with bangs playing with toads, Qing Dynasty, Wu Zhifan’s style, 14.5cm high, 11.4cm diameter. The old collection of the Qing Palace
The pen holder is round and has three short feet. The Liu Hai is depicted in relief on the ground, walking slowly beside two pine trees, with a string of money in one hand and a long broom, with three golden toads on the broom and a gourd in the other hand. The bangs are naked, with a leopard skin skirt around them. Looking back, they look at the toad with a grin and a charmingly naive look. The rough parts of the carving techniques, such as clothing pleats, pine branches, broom tips, etc., open and close widely, with sharp and powerful lines; The fine parts such as hair, loose scales, etc., especially the double breasts of figures with black paint dots, are very realistic. Over time, the contrast between the color of the characters and the background color of the destination becomes more and more intense, which is a deliberate and successful treatment. The cylinder body is filled with green ink script: “Made by Wu Zhifan” and official script verse:
A broom sweeps away the dust of the three worlds, and the toad is still playing
Huan Jinpian talks about who Iraq is, as if its humane surname is Zhen
And the two seals of “Qianlong Renyin Imperial Titles” and “Ancient and Rare Son of Heaven” and “Youri Zizi”. Qianlong Renyin is the 47th year of Qianlong (1782)


竹雕御题刘海戏蟾图笔筒局部