Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion

China

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 222

Makers of decorative arts often embellished the surfaces of vessels with famous stories. This brush pot depicts the statesman and calligrapher Wang Xizhi and his friends assembling at Kuaiji in 353 CE to celebrate the spring purification festival by drinking wine and writing poems, an event known as the Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion. More than just an appealing landscape with figures, the decoration signaled that the owner of the brush holder understood and appreciated history.

Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Jade (nephrite), China

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Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Jade (nephrite), China
Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Jade (nephrite), China
Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Jade (nephrite), China
Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Jade (nephrite), China
Brush holder with Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, Jade (nephrite), China

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