Cylindrical container

Object Details

• Artist

  Zhang Xihuang (early-mid 17th century or later)

• Label

  Chinese scholars admired objects made of bamboo. This small cylinder may have been used by a scholar wanting to send a friend a poem or a slip of writing, which he would roll up and place inside the bamboo tube. Another possible use for this container was as a brush holder.

  Using a tiny scalpel, Zhang Xihuang carved the design into the skin of a freshly cut piece of bamboo; where he scraped away the green skin, the exposed surface aged to a tawny brown and the remaining skin turned buff. Zhang carved the scene of a garden as an earthly paradise. In carving the long poem on the bamboo tube, Zhang imitated every nuance of brushwriting, including the thin ligatures between strokes in the fluid style of calligraphy used. He also carved two simulated seal impressions, which reproduce the effect of the name seals that painters use on works on paper.

  The lifedates of Zhang Xihuang are currently under debate by scholars.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  On Becoming Immortal (May 9, 1993 to August 15, 1994)

  Chinese Art (May 9 to November 29, 1993)

  Bicentennial Exhibition: Chinese Art (December 5, 1975 to November 10, 1976)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics, 1955 (September 19, 1955 to November 10, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, East Asian Ceramics and Paintings, East Corridor (January 8, 1947 to ---)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1946 (May 6, 1946 to November 17, 1955)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Ceramics and Paintings (November 14, 1944 to May 3, 1946)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Ceramics, 1943 (March 22, 1943 to November 13, 1944)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Container

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1600s, 1850s

• Name

  Zhang, Xihuang

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Landscapes, Art, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644)

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Containers