A fine cinnabar lacquer carved square brushpot, bitong

Qianlong

Qianlong
With canted corners, each side meticulously carved in medium relief with a mountainous landscape with pavilions, trees and gnarled rockwork, the sky with a wan-character diaper pattern, the interior and base lacquered black, with wood stand. 12.5cm (5in) high. (2).

清乾隆 剔紅山水人物紋方形筆筒

Provenance: René Jaquerod, Pully-Lausanne, Switzerland
Mrs Gret Hasler (1895-1971), Winterthur, Switzerland, acquired from the above in 1945, and thence by descent

A trip to New York, Chicago and Washington in 1937 was the starting point for Mrs Gret Hasler's interest in Chinese art. This she continued until the Second World War by acquiring objects from dealers in Paris, Sweden and New York.

來源：瑞士皮伊-洛桑René Jaquerod
瑞士溫特圖爾Gret Hasler夫人（1895-1971）舊藏，1945年購自上者，並由後人保存迄今

Gret Hasler夫人對中國藝術的興趣始於1937年的紐約、芝加哥和華盛頓之行。此後，她持續自巴黎、瑞典和紐約的古董商處購藏藝術品，直至第二次世界大戰後。

The subject matter of the present lot exhibits the fascination of the Chinese scholarly class with the Daoist ideal of retirement from public service to dwell in the mountains and contemplate nature. As such it would have provided a means of brief escape and relaxation from his Confucian duties for the scholar-official whose desk it adorned. Compare with a related but larger square cinnabar lacquer brushpot, carved with scholars in landscapes on each side, mid Qing dynasty, from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Shenzhen, 2006, p.62, no.42.

A related cinnabar lacquer brushpot, Qianlong mark and period, was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 14 March 2016, lot 8144; another related cinnabar lacquer brushpot, Qianlong, was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 April 2010, lot 1931.