I have found the market with wood/bamboo on eBay to be very murky waters.

Perhaps bek you may with all your experience with said material start a thread.

I for one would be very interested. Would love to learn more about the different woods etc.

Mark

Hello,Bek5k, 

Im with Mark  I collect wood figures would love to learn more,

thanks for the heads up. John

Dear bek5k:

I recently found on eBay via bidamount.com what was described as a Qing dynasty bamboo brush pot  offered by a seller in the U.K.  SEE LINK It was up for auction. I thought the color was lovely and I considered the carving to be very well done. However, I would be the first to admit that I know nothing about bamboo items. My interest is in Qing porcelains. I simply liked it. I bid on it and won it for about $115 which sounds very low compared with the figures you mention in your post above. The brush pot is about 5 inches tall and 3-1/2 inches in diameter. I have it on my desk next to a famille verte Shoulao figure and I like both pieces. I looked at the bottom of the piece as you recommended today and could not decide whether it met your criteria for a genuine bamboo versus a molded item.

Having read your post though and seen that you have had so much experience with bamboo items, I thought this might be a good opportunity to ask your opinion about my brush pot. Please be assured that if you tell me it's a fake I won't be greatly distressed since I paid so little for it and I  like it a lot as a decorative item. However, if you think it is a genuine item from say 1890 - 1920  I would be even more pleased with it than I already am. I'm posting several photographs below for your opinion. I know that one needs also to handle a piece to determine this type of thing. It is a very light-weight item.

By the way, it will be wonderful to have a Forum member who has expertise in Chinese wood and bamboo items and I hope you'll be available to help us with this very specialized area of Chinese art. I know about 3D technology, but had no idea it could be used to further confuse the already muddy field of Chinese antiques!

Regards,

Errol

Hi Errol,

Your brush pot has some age, but the motif is little bit chaotic. One side has a historical story scene and the other side depicts two birds (maybe phoenix and ...). Brush pot is one important decorative object of scholar desk set. It should be beautiful. Not like this one, all figures are unproportional and a lot of dirty in it. Why? Compare brush pots sold at auctions and in the museums there are big differences. So don't waste money on such low quality things. Just my opinion.

Xin

Bamboo old or new!

I was taught a long time ago the following,

A fine split of the surface in several places.

The other is the grain on the face where it was cut  with genuine qing period or earlier, the surface is no longer smooth, the grain is more likely  to the surface of miniscule recesses.

That is why Xin correctly stated that the example posted by Errol had some age.

Mark

Hi Xin:

I liked this brush pot for the very reasons you dislike it. Peter Combs liked it too and featured it especially in one of his weekly videos.  I have so many grand porcelain objects, French furniture pieces and so much gilt around, its contrasting simple folk art character appealed to me. I knew it was not a high quality item when I bid on it. Catawiki right now has a similar item, a bamboo tea caddy, up for auction. It has much better carving on the front than mine but what appears to be a single phoenix on the reverse side similar to mine.       SEE LINK    As regards the dirt, are you referring to the interior of the pot or the exterior and how do you suggest cleaning it? I'm always nervous about using cleaning agents on old items. Since you don't mention it, I assume you think this is bamboo and not a molded item?

Regards,

Errol

Hello All,

Erroll I think Xin did not realise  your brush pot belonged to a very young scholar just starting out and of very modest means but in great need of somewhere to keep his brush.  I like it the timber has a nice warm glow almost looks like Elm.  I think that bamboo by it's very nature dose not allow for very fine carving when compared to box wood , lime or some hard woods.  This is a great this thread thanks to bek5k.  I have had this figure for many years always intrigued me as to whether it was carved from a bamboo shoot or is a molded thing. Think it comes from Japan.

Thanks to all. 

Hi Errol,

The displays on a prominent scholar table that include a bitong and other symbolic items all have meaning according to what and where they are placed on a table.

I recall the post by Peter when if I am correct said item was at $1.

As to whether it is from qing/republic period I would have to say post 1950.

Still although over priced in opinion, the price you paid won't break the bank.

A quick Google search on Christie and other will reveal some stunning examples.

In the end if you like something, however quirky or other and you are happy then that's OK.

Mark

Dear Errol,

Yes, many simple folk art are very attractive, I agree with you. Peter likes it, it's just his taste. Doesn't mean it's wonderful. You have your feeling and taste about art, I have mine. Sometimes we are different. My eyes are too spoiled, I know.

I checked the tea caddy on Catawiki, it's acutally a modified brush pot which made in Canton at late Qing. It's similar to yours. 

As regards the dirt I mean the dirt of exterior in the carving. You can clean your brush pot with cotton stick. Yes, it’s bamboo and very sensitive to temperature and moisture. So it needs caring. The traditional way is hold in your hands and rub the surface gently with your hands. Before you do this, clean your hands first. After a while the bamboo will get a very nice color and surface. If you heat your room too much, it’s not good, bamboos don’t like it. Hope I gave you some useful ideas.

Xin

Hi Brettm,

Very beautiful Japanese bamboo carving Damo.

Xin

Hello Xin, Michael and Mark:

Thanks for your comments.

Michael I liked your piece too. It's something I think you, Peter and I share - an affection for quirky items. Your figure has a similar foot to mine. I'm pleased we agree that both pieces are bamboo. I liked your idea of the poor scholar just starting out. As with all antiques it makes me wonder what sort of history it had from the point of view of who the past owners were. If only these old pieces could speak and tell us their stories!

Xin, so do you think the Catawiki and my piece are late Qing? When you mention using a cotton-stick, I assume you mean a Q-tip? Anyway that seems like a sensible approach and I'll get it done soon. I live in the American Southwest and we have very low humidity here.

Mark you are correct. The brush pot started at a $1 bid and there were 32 bids after that. It's the least expensive Chinese item I have ever bought. A nearby large nineteenth century Langyao bottle vase on an elm pedestal seems to be looking down on the brush pot disapprovingly!

Best regards,

Errol

Hi all:

I found a bamboo brush pot on 1stdibs for $1,475.  SEE LINK  Although the carving is finer than on my $100+ brush pot, the overall features with the phoenix on the back seem similar to mine and to the modified tea caddy on Catawiki. This seems like a pretty standard design pattern (see photographs). I don't see, however, that the 1stdibs brush pot, supposedly from the mid-19th century, is worth 14 times what mine is worth although I might be missing something.

Regards,

Errol

Hi again:

Here is an $1,800 bamboo brush pot from eBay with a hole in the bottom. I guess it would not be of much use as an actual brush pot!  SEE LINK 

The carving seems quite intricate, but with the hole and all I think I prefer mine for $100+!  See some photographs below.

Errol

Hello,Errol

you brush pot is Avery good buy better that the other two museums pieces are hard to come by 

here one from a museum.  Tap on link,  http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/carving-bamboo.php#

here a pare of my bamboo figures I picked up not on eBay but junk shops.

I pickup because I like them John