A BURLWOOD ‘TREE TRUNK’ BRUSHPOT, BITONG, MID-QING China, 18th-19th century. Naturalistically carved with protruding burls and recesses to simulate a gnarled section of a tree trunk. Finely polished to a smooth, unctuous feel overall.

Provenance: From the estate of Sear Hang Hwie Pao (1937-2009). Two old collector’s labels to base, ‘15’ and ‘19’. Pao was one of Canada’s leading dealers of Chinese porcelain and works of art. His antique store, Pao & Moltke Ltd., owned together with his wife Mrs. von Moltke, who descended from a German and Danish noble family, was a fixture in Toronto’s trendy Yorkville area from the 1980s to early 2000s.
Condition: Excellent condition with old wear, good patina, few minuscule nicks and scratches here and there.

Weight: 180.3 g
Dimensions: Height 10.5 cm

Auction result comparison: A related burlwood bitong of larger size was sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in Chinese Art on 29 May 2019, lot 547, for HKD 250,000. 清代中期癭木瘤根筆筒
中國，十八至十九世紀。取天然癭木根隨形而雕如樹幹狀，底足有一淺淺小凹槽的，表面光滑油潤。

來源：Sear Hang Hwie Pao (1937-2009) 收藏。底部兩個藏家就標籤“15”與“19”。Pao是加拿大中國瓷器和藝術品的主要經銷商之一。 他和妻子創立了Pao＆Moltke Ltd古玩店，他們的古玩店從1980年代到2000年代初期曾是多倫多時尚的Yorkville地區的熱門店鋪。
品相：品相極好，舊磨損，自然的包漿，局部輕微小劃痕和刻痕。

重量：180.3 克
尺寸：高10.5 厘米

拍賣結果比較：一件尺寸稍大的瘤木筆筒，見香港蘇富比 Chinese Art 2019年5月29日，lot 547，售價HKD 250,000。