Brushpot with Bamboo Patterns

The round brushpot has a straight sides and a bottom with a small hole in the center. One side of the exterior wall depicts an exuberant scene of two flourishing stalks of bamboo sprouting new leaves. The artist adds green and umber to create a strong and free style. The other side bears a poetic couplet in cursive script:   Finally reaching the metamorphosis of the divine dragon,   Still retaining the song of the brilliant phoenix.
It is complemented by two red seals in seal script (zhuan shu): xi (west) and yuan (garden). West Garden is the style name of the Yangzhou eccentric painter Gao Fenghan (ca. 1683-1748/49). The bottom is glazed but has no seal.
Most of the decorative paintings on the wares made in the Kangxi official kiln were executed by famous artists at that time. On the pot, the bamboo is attractive and forceful; the shades of ink differentiate the stems and leaves. The motifs are lifelike and exquisite as if they were a traditional literati painting on white paper. Such design were done by masters. Moreover, the lacquer-like smooth ink and the pure white ground form a dramatic contrast that surpasses literati aesthetics. Successfully combining poetry, painting, calligraphy and seal, this is a masterpiece of the polychrome writing implements of the Kangxi reign.