Brush pots are part of the calligrapher or Japanese painter’s desk. All tools associated with the brush arts are aesthetically admired, which can be appreciated in the engraved bamboo design. This brush pot shows the bamboo’s simplicity decorated with a rich figurative engraving.
The subject represents classical Chinese literature from the 6th Century, entitled “The Seven Wise Men in the Bamboo Forest”. It tells the tale of seven philosophers, musicians and poets who meet in a bamboo forest to practice their art surrounded by nature. Freedom and eccentricity are depicted as values that allow one to rid themselves of society’s structures and appearances.
Everyday objects like this brush pot were part of a global market during the Meiji Period (1868-1912), time in which Japan put an end to the previous administration’s isolationist policies. The new government was characterized by an increased openness to the rest of the world, and for European and American “orientalists”, Meiji’s Japan was an open space to be “discovered” and exhibited in their countries.