Divine Artistry in Bamboo — Bamboo Carving of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Collection｜Special Exhibition

AD 1368 - 1911

This exhibition brings together bamboo carvings and engravings from two Yun Museum collections, exploring the relationship between material, craftsmanship and the cultivated pleasures of the scholar’s studio.

Landscapes and figures unfold across brush pots and wrist rests, while bamboo roots inspire sculptural forms shaped by their natural growth. Relief carving, openwork, reserved-skin carving and bamboo-veneer work reveal varied approaches to surface and depth.

Original dates, inscriptions and former-collection designations are retained. Works dated to the late Qing and early Republican period, as well as objects combining bamboo and wood, are identified accordingly.

1A Bamboo Brush Pot Carved with a Scene of the Two Qiaos Reading Together, Early Qing Dynasty

2A Bamboo Brush Pot Carved with the ‘Lanting Xiuxi Tu’ (Orchid Pavilion Gathering) Scene, Bearing the Mark ‘Meilin’, Mid-Qing Dyn

3A Naturalistically Carved Bamboo Brush Pot in the Form of Nine Peaches, Bearing the Mark ‘Ruan Yuan’, Qing Dynasty

4A Bamboo Brush Pot Carved with a ‘Treading Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms’ Scene, Bearing the Mark ‘Wu Zhifan Zhi’, Kangxi Peri

5A Bamboo Brush Pot Carved with the ‘Goddess of the Luo River’ Scene and Poetic Inscriptions, Bearing the Mark ‘Song Gou’, Ming D

6A Bamboo Brush Pot Carved with a ‘Kezi Tu’ (Teaching Children) Scene, in the Style of Zhu Sansong, Late Ming Dynasty

7A Bamboo Figure of a Bodhisattva, Ming Dynasty

8A Bamboo Root Carving of a Qilin Grasping Lingzhi, Qing Dynasty

9A Bamboo Hanging Panel Finely Carved in High Relief with an Auspicious Dragon, Early Qing Dynasty

10A Bamboo Carving of Liu Hai and the Three-Legged Toad, 18th Century, Qing Dynasty

11A Bamboo Figure of a Court Lady, Early Qing Dynasty

12A Bamboo Carving of a Luohan Playing with a Lion, Qing Dynasty