Only Chinese version is available
Bamboo toad carved in the round
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Artist
Zhu Ying
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Year
16th / 17th century
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Media
Bamboo
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Dimensions
H 2.8 cm L 4.9 cm
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Museum No.
C1985.0164
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Artist Bio
Zhu Ying, a renowned bamboo carver who was active in Jiading in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Specialising in high relief work and carvings in the round, the members of the Zhu family (the father Zhu He, his son Ying and grandson Zhizheng) were reputed to be the greatest bamboo carvers of the time, with Zhu Ying particularly known for his carvings of toads, immortals and mountains.
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Description
This bamboo toad carved in the round, with the two-character mark of ‘Zhu Ying’ in relief on its belly, belongs to the work of Zhu Ying. This work makes clever use of the natural effect of the gnarled protrusions of the bamboo root for the eyes and the markings of the creature, while the form of the root is ideal for transforming into the toad’s natural posture. All of these features demonstrate the artist’s complete mastery of his medium.
The bamboo is a plant much admired by the Chinese for its utilitarian functions as well as its beauty, and its hollow, segmented form has long been eulogised as an emblem of humility and righteousness of the scholar. By the late Ming period, thanks to the patronage of the literati and the emergence of several great artists in this field, bamboo carving had developed into a significant art form. Jiading (in today’s Shanghai) and Jinling (today’s Nanjing) in Jiangsu province became the two main centres for bamboo carving at that time.
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—Collection of Hong Kong Museum of Art, donated by Dr Ip Yee
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