A finely carved bamboo brushpot by Zhou Hao,Qing dynasty, dated gengxu year, corresponding to 1730清庚戌年（1730年） 周顥作山林景緻竹刻筆筒 《庚戌仲夏芷嵒周顥》款of oval section resting on three short feet, finely carved to one side with a verdant landscape with a scholar resting in a pavilion, the reverse with a long inscription, dated midsummer of the gengxu year, corresponding to the fifth lunar month of 1730, signed Zhiyan Zhou Hao, the surface with a lustrous patina and a warm golden-brown colourh. 14 cm拍品专文: This brushpot is signed Zhou Hao (c. 1685-1773), also known as Zhou Ran (zi Jinzhan, hao Xueqiao, Zhiyan, Yaofeng shanren, Ranqi). Hailing from Jiading, Jiangsu province, he was at the forefront of the Jiading school during the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods and is considered one of the most accomplished bamboo carvers of the Qing dynasty. He was renowned for his deft wielding of the carving knife, which he used like a painting brush. This piece exemplifies Zhou's 'iron stroke and light depiction style', as evident in the rendering of rocks with 'axe-cut strokes'.Three brushpots carved with similar motifs of bamboo and rocks and signed by Zhou Hao, but with lengthy inscriptions, were included in the exhibition Literati Spirit: Art of Chinese Bamboo Carving, Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, 2012, cat. nos 25-27. Further works by Zhou Hao include a brushpot carved with a landscape, illustrated in Zhu Shuyi, 'Bamboo Carving of the Jiading School', Orientations, February 1991, pl. 6; another two sold in these rooms, 8th October 2010, lot 2230, and 31st October 2004, lot 191. See also an example carved with a flowering plum branch, from the Simon Kwan collection, included in the exhibition Ming and Qing Bamboo, The Art Museum, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2000, cat. no. 93.