Chinese Zitan Brush Washer with Huanghuali Stand
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A exceptional finely carved Chinese zitan brush washer, Qianlong period (1735-1796) the zitan washer is well carved with lingzhi fungus, scrolls and bats, on carved Huanghuali stand 18 13 cm long, 10 cm wide, 2 cm high. Provenance: Knapton Rasti fine Art, 7/7/2006. An important private collection, Sydney, Australia
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- Zitan Wood - Zitan is the most expensive, and since ancient times, has been considered the most precious of woods.
Zitan wood is the hardest and heaviest of all hardwoods. It is purplish-black to black in colour, and with a grain so dense it is virtually invisible.
Zitan can usually only be obtained in quite narrow strips and so it is rare to find large pieces of furniture made from this wood. True Chinese rosewood is a variety of zitan and is very rare. - Huanghuali Wood - Huanghuali is the most sought-after timber used in the construction of Chinese furniture because of its fine colour and grain.
During Ming and early Qing dynasties, most of the best furniture was made from huanghuali wood.
It is a member of the rosewood family and over time the surface mellows to a yellowish brown tone with the exposure to light.
In recent years, furniture made from huanghuali wood has increased exponentially in value. - Important - Important is a word used in the antique trade to indicate an object should be ranked above other similar objects, and is therefore more valuable.
The object could be considered important because it is by a famous designer or maker, has been shown at a major exhibition, is of exquisite workmanship, is rare or is a "one-off", was made for an important patron, and so on.
Even further up the pecking order are objects that are described in catalogue descriptions as highly important or extraordinarily important.
This item has been included into following indexes:
- Chinese scholar's desk accessories