691 - Chinese Soapstone Brush Washer with Lotus Blossoms and Birds, Three Containers

Chinese Soapstone Brush Washer with Lotus Blossoms and Birds, Three Containers Soapstone, carved from a single block. Brush washer, also known as a brush washing vessel, in the form of an openwork rocky landscape with three containers: two shallow oval hollows side by side, above them a third cup. The light grey-beige stone shows dark grey to black inclusions, which the carver has used for the rock passages and the branches; the light zones are worked into lotus blossoms, leaves and seed heads, among which small birds are perched. The openwork base is designed as porous rock. Condition commensurate with age, slight chipping. 16 x 21 x 5.5 cm (HxWxD) Brush washers and brush rests belong to the four treasures of the Chinese scholar's studio, in which brush, ink, inkstone and paper came together as the writing equipment of the educated man. Soapstone, a soft talc rock, could be carved with simple tools down to the finest openwork and was therefore preferred for such desk implements; the natural colour layering of the stone was deliberately worked into the composition, dark inclusions becoming rock and bark, light passages becoming blossoms and fruit. In China the lotus is a symbol of purity, because it rises immaculate out of the mud; combined with birds it stands for harmony and a life that succeeds.