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Is this a large bitong, or just a planter as the seller claimed?
There seems to be a piece of a wax seal (Jian ding ‘certified’ ?) on the bottom.
Christie’s sold a root wood bitong even larger than mine, so the size does not seem outside the feasible range of bitong size.
I have no idea if the type of wood… it’s so burly, it’s hard to say, but the color is a quite nice golden blonde color.
The inside of the vessel appears worn… it’s certainly darkened.
I did look for burl and root wood planters on Google… nothing really similar popped up.
What do you think?
I think the color is amazing. What a massive thing. Looks like it probably weighs 30 pounds. Whatever it was intended to be it's pretty cool.
@johnshoe It’s not too heavy… maybe 8-10 lbs (guess). But I’m not sure I can explain the weight, whether it’s due to the wood being dried out from age, or the nature of this type of root wood.
@greeno107 Hopefully you'll find out it is called something like "feather-lite Imperial gold Chinese burlwood".
It's definitely not a planter. It's a scroll bitong.It's sometimes difficult to tell the difference and sometimes the big auction house simply describe them as brush or bitong holders.
Scrolls are obviously bigger. Hence the larger pot.
Looks Qing to me. Perhaps 19th century.
Not sure about the wood though because it is in its natural state etc etc. This would be I think for @Brettm to comment on.
Very nice example my friend. Very nice indeed!
Regards,
MARK
Hello,
Very nice naturalistic brush pot. Would look good on a scholars desk along with a Lingzhi mushroom and a Lingbi Stone. Think as you say is very lightweight its from the root section of a Bamboo stand. Naturalistic carving where a fair amount of the tree or root is left intact and cleverly used by the carver to suggest a figure is not very well understood in the west, Peter found a very nice carving in a recent video and said how much he liked it and thought it went for a very low price. I have several root carvings and have include some photo's below of one I have to hand. I like the way the carver has used the natural form to suggest a cloak for the figure. It is 34cm high it is solid and far to heavy to be Bamboo I have never really give to much thought as to what timber it maybe. Not to everybody's taste.
Cheers
Michael
The scroll pot is nice (huge and unique!), but I think yours is beautiful, Michael. Here is one I picked up a year or so ago. As with yours, the carver used the natural texture of the wood to suggest the robes for the two figures. Unfortunately, there is a crack running across the neck of one of the figures. It wiggles slightly, but seems attached well enough that I haven't tried to glue it. It is light, and I think it is probably bamboo.
The color is correct in the first photo--the others are too red.
Are these three pieces Japanese or Chinese?
Charles
@brettm It is light, but not quite bamboo light.... I realize the solid root of bamboo is rather heavy, but the underside sure looks like true wood.
It's perhaps burl rather than root wood - I think I've described it incorrectly earlier.
The color is particularly blonde / golden with strong irridescence, and the grain is a swirl of flossy strands.
Here's a close up. Have you seen anything like this before? I can't say that I have.
Seems to have the same hair like grain as this brush pot sold by Christies. Here's a close up of the photo Christie's posted... there seems to be a brown lacquer or patina on the brush pot, but the underneath grain of the wood looks similar. This brush pot brought $87,500 USD, so I'm guessing it is huanghuali burl. Wouldn't that be lucky if mine was, too!
@kirby13 and @greeno107
Hello, yes
Charles your carving could well be from Japan. I would say the naturalistic form is perhaps more in line with the Japanese aesthetic others may well disagree with that statement. However the Japanese taste formed via Zen Buddhist and earlier Taoist / Shinto religious beliefs are well reflected in Japanese arts. As far as the type of timber is concerned not going to really express a strong opinion. It is next to impossible to ID furniture timbers via photo's. Unusual growths , burls and root sections are even harder. Still think your carving is a good example of it's type and worthy of further investigation.
Greeno,
O.K. so not likely Bamboo, I did not base my guess purely on density/ weight more on the fact it is naturally hollow as you know that's the way it grows. In very old stands of bamboo the lowest sections can get buried and be affected by the soil , insects etc and have it's surface changed from the normal smooth appearance we associate with bamboo. So if we say it is not bamboo but a burl of some sort we need to consider how it became naturally hollow. As you know the burl section from any tree is usually the most dense, heavy and solid. Nature is a wonderful thing and I suppose it is not beyond possibility that nature somehow produced a hollow section. If your pots maker managed to hollow it out so it retained such a natural look they possessed great skill. You have to ask would anybody at any time carve away so much valuable burl timber which would be just waste material. You asked if I have seen anything like the timber in your photo's of the outside of the pot the answer yes... from the Pterocarpus species so Narra or Padauk. More specifically Pterocarpus macrocarpus which is sold in the west as Amboyna. Amboyna come in two variety's red or golden. If you search Golden Amboyna I am sure you will find examples that are very similar to your pot. Amboyna is and always has been one of the words rarest and expensive burl timbers. I have no clue what the Chinese call Amboyna It was much loved by the French ébéniste for use in items made for the French court. So your task is made harder not only do you have to ID the timber but also work out how it came to be hollow. The only definate way to properly ID a timber is via scientific means not sure how you go about that in the USA down here in Australia we have Universities and government science labs that work with the timber industry, that for a fee provide a service to the public.
Well typed a lot without really answering your questions.
Cheers
Michael
https://www.globalwoodsource.com/amboyna-burl
@brettm That’s some pretty burl!
My piece has tool marks on the inside, so I suspect it was not naturally hollow, or perhaps further hollowed.
I’m not exactly sure the process of hollowing a vessel like this.
The hole is not cylindrical, so it was not machine turned/bored.
My theory is the maker made a small fire in the center, allowed it to carbonize, and carved out the softer charcoal. That would explain the comparatively dark interior.
If my theory is true. I’m not sure if that would exclude it from being a bitong, although large examples I’ve seen also seem to have darker inner mouths/ interiors. I’m not sure the cause of the darkened interiors in genuine examples.
@greeno107 It almost looks painted, like how they fake wood grain sometimes with paint.
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