Brush Holder

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The brush pot is painted in ink with a scene of a twisting plum branch growing above and behind a craggy and precariously-tilted rock. A poem, presumably written by the artist who painted the pot, fills the remaining space. A six-character mark written on the bottom indicates that the pot was produced during the Guangxu period at the end of the Qing dynasty: 金吉金寫菖蒲，拳石曰石為嫁蒲。余謂既嫁蒲家郎，非梅不得也。余亦寫菖蒲拳石，表綴梅華 一枝。戊午胡公壽記于海上精舍。[印]：公壽 Jin Jijin [Jin Nong, 1687-1764] painted the calamus, mentioning [in the inscription] the [metaphorical] marriage of a lump of rock to the calamus. In my opinion, for marrying the young man of the calamus family, the plum is indispensable. I paint calamus and rocks, too, to set off the plum branch. In the wuwu year [1858] Hu Gongshou (1823-1886) records this in his studio in Shanghai. [seal]: Gongshou 大清光緒年製 Made in the Guangxu reign era [1875-1908] of the Great Qing dynasty.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art