A fine and rare Chinese bamboo brush pot, signed Mei Lin, Qing dynasty, 19th century
清十九世紀 竹雕山水圖筆筒 《梅鄰》款

The slender brush pot delicately carved in low relief to depict a leafy river landscape dotted with fishing boats, the banks lined with clusters of pine trees, bamboo and rockery, with inscription and signature that reads Mei lin shan ren zhi

(Quantity:1)

Dimensions: 6.5cm diameter, 12.5cm high

From a North London house clearance

來源：

北倫敦住宅遺產清理所得

It is probable that the name 'Meilin Shanren' identifies the bamboo carver Wang Meilin, a native of Jiading, who is recorded in 'Zhongguo Meishu Jiaren Mingcidian, Shanghai renmin meishu chubanshe', 1985, p. 104.

The delicate and painterly style of the relief decoration on this bitong is shared on other pieces. For example, see a brush pot signed Wang Meilin in the Shanghai Museum, which was included in the Museum’s exhibition 'Literati Spirit. Art of Chinese Bamboo Carving', Shanghai, 2012, cat. no. 71; another, also signed Wang Meilin, in the collection of Simon Kwan, was exhibited in 'Ming and Qing Bamboo', Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2000, cat. no. 123; and a third, unsigned and decorated with fishermen, in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, was included in the Museum’s exhibition Chinese Bamboo Carving, vol. 1, Hong Kong, 1978, col. pl. 23, and cat. no. 80.

See a slender bamboo bitong with a very similar style, offered at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 01 June 2016, lot 56.