18th Century The slender cylindrical vessel deeply carved and reticulated in a continuous scene around the sides and continuing in low relief on the base, the rim gently rounded, brilliantly carved with an unusual scene depicting two elderly, presumably Daoist, scholars and attendant pointing at a flying crane above which appears to have been released from a wooden pen lodged in the rockwork behind them, whilst nearby another scholar with a water vessel at his feet directs a young attendant to scoop fresh water from the base of a gushing waterfall, all set in a busy many-layered rockwork setting with a small fenced building with a stepped pathway and a large pavilion with a bridge beside another waterfall, all dotted with various craggy pine, a large wutong tree and other hanging foliage. 4 3/4in (12cm) high