A SMALL SOAPSTONE BRUSHPOT, QING China, early 19th century. The unusual vessel neatly incised with a circumferential poem of eight lines with seven characters each, ending with the four-character signature Lanyin Yushi and seal Runquan. Thinly coated in buff lacquer bearing a microscopic age crackling. Condition: Good condition with old wear and one tiny nick to lip only. Provenance: English private estate. Weight: 269.8 g. Dimensions: Height 11.4 cm. Signature and seal point to Wu Nianzu, an official of the Jiaqing dynasty, from which at least one bamboo armrest with the identical signature and seal have been recorded.