Asian Art in London
29 October - 7 November 2009
17. A Soapstone Brush Washer
Signed Shang Jun, 19th century
The washer conforms to the shape of an archaistic phoenix with a flat base and straight sides. The slightly concave top of the washer is carved in shallow relief with the profile of the phoenix head, its wings and tails around two apertures in the centre and the well-hollowed water well. The style name of the artist, Shang Jun, is carved in relief on one of the outer wing feathers, and the base is inscribed with the collector’s mark Liang Lei Xuan cang. Some areas of the design and the inscription at the base gilt.
13 cm. long; 8.5 cm. wide
Lianglei Xuan (Studio of Two Bronze Lei) was the studio name of Wu Yun (1811–1883), a native of Shexian in Anhui province. He was a juren and once the Governor of Suzhou. He collected archaic bronzes and calligraphy, and had an important collection including two Western Zhou archaic bronze lei, hence the studio name. Excavated in the Jiaqing period, these two bronze vessels (actually closer in shape to a hu) were considered amongst the most important Chinese archaic bronzes due to the long inscriptions inscribed on them. One is now in the collection of the Shanghai Museum, while the other is in Bejing. The archaic form and design of the current washer would have been fitting for his desk, and shows the trend of renewed interests in archaism in the Qianlong and Jiaqing period. Although the washer is signed Shang Jun, its carving and style is of the early 19th century, attesting to the popularity of his work so later carvers or his followers were still making pieces in his name.
