An interesting bamboo Brush Pot (Bitong) with cyclical date, probably 1829, well carved with literati served by a girl at a table in a clearing another admiring the rocky view, the reverse with three further figures with sheng and lute, the whole with towering rocks and pine, bamboo, maple and other trees, the patina a rich chestnut brown, engraved Xishan Huiyou Tu, Jichou Nian Xia, Meilin Zhi (Picture of Meeting Friends at Xishan, Summer of Year Jichou, made by Meilin), very minor wear, 17.5cm The three possible cyclical dates are 1769, 1829 and 1889, 1829 seeming most likely. The renowned mid-Qing bamboo carver, Wang Meilin, came from a family who ran a bamboo carving business for four generations; he was active from Qianlong to Jiaqing. A brush pot with a very similar style of carving from the Julia Y.Chang Collection, is illustrated in Bamboo Carving of China, Wang Shixiang/ Wan-go Weng, 1983, no 64 (four views); another from the Collection of Dr. Ho Shun-fung is illustrated in Chinese Bamboo Carving, Ip Lee & Laurence C.S.Tam, HK Museum of Art, 1978, no. 70 (two views) which is dated to the 18th century.