A PAIR OF LARGE BRONZE VASES IN THE FORM OF TREE TRUNKS

17th century
China

height: 50.2 cm

The hollow trunks are formed as two ancient plum trees – whose short flowering branches contrast with the gnarled and venerable old trunks. The roots of the trees are partly exposed and connected to the base that is formed as a collection of lingzhi fungus heads.

An appreciation of the natural world of rocks and organic materials – such as root wood, lingzhi, bamboo and rhinoceros horn – was an aesthetic that very much appealed to the Chinese scholar class. In representing, in bronze, an aspect of the organic world, a marriage was formed between the natural beauty of flowering branches that would have been displayed in the vases, and the vessels themselves as works of art.