Zitan Brush Pot with Soapstone Inlay

Set alongside the four treasures of the study - the calligraphy brush, ink, paper, and inkstone - a brush pot, or bitong, was an essential fixture of the scholars' desk. This beautiful example is carved from zitan, a highly prized rare and slow-growing hardwood. Bone and soapstone inlays embellish the brush pot with images of delicately flowering prunus branches and a poetic inscription alongside the artist’s signature.

Brush pot has a repaired split to wood on one side.