A Chinese bamboo brush pot, bitong, Qing dynasty, 19th century, signed Hongyu
清十九世紀 竹雕仙人圖筆筒 《宏裕》款

The exterior carved in high relief to depict an immortal riding atop a ferocious dragon through a rocky landscape dotted with pine trees and replete with cresting waves and swirling clouds, elsewhere another immortal rides a Buddhist lion as a third immortal rides in a sedan towed by a qilin behind him, with incised inscription that reads 'qishou gui ming tiandi shui san guan dadi cibei zhu' and signed 'hong yu' with the seal mark 'yuan', set with a hardwood rim and footed base

(Quantity:1)

Dimensions: 17cm wide, 16.8cm high

Zhang Hongyu was active as a bamboo carver around the Jiaqing to Daoguang periods (c. 1796-1860). A bamboo carving by this artist was included in the exhibition 'Art of the Iron Brush, Bamboo Carvings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties' at the University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong, April 2019, and was illustrated on the front cover of the catalogue.

張鴻羽為清代中晚期著名竹刻名家，其藝術生涯跨越嘉慶至道光年間（約1796-1860年）。2019年4月，香港大學美術博物館舉辦了名為「鐵筆生花——明清竹刻藝術」的專題展覽，張鴻羽的一件竹雕精品受邀參展，並被選為該展覽圖錄的封面。