109 - [PRIVATE COLLECTION OF SCHOLAR'S OBJECTS] CHINESE BAMBOO LEAF-FORM 'PRUNUS' TEA SCOOP/BRUSH LICK

[PRIVATE COLLECTION OF SCHOLAR'S OBJECTS] CHINESE BAMBOO LEAF-FORM 'PRUNUS' TEA SCOOP/BRUSH LICK LATE MING TO QING DYNASTY, 17TH CENTURY 明末清初 竹雕梅花紋葉形茶則／筆舔naturalistically rendered as a large, curving and veined leaf, borne on a gnarled branch with prunus and blossoms in high relief, a spider nestled on the leaf 9cm wide Private collection, London; previously in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Gerard Hawthorn倫敦私人收藏；前好善簃雅藏（Gerard Hawthorn伉儷） This vessel is levelled on a supporting foot, it could have served as a brush lick on a scholar’s desk, allowing excess ink to be brushed off before writing or painting on paper. The raised flower heads on the leaf’s surface would have facilitated this process. Compare to a bamboo leaf-form brush lick, sold at Sotheby's Paris, 21 December 2023, part lot 69. However, the prunus motif on this item evokes the flowers’ fragrance, giving latitude to this vessel’s probable function as a spoon or a scoop to transfer aromatictea into a teapot.See a bamboo 'peach' scoop, 18th century, sold at Bonhams London, 14 May 2025, lot 2.