Large XIXᵉ Chinese Scholar's Brush - Black Horn And Longevity Symbol

Large Chinese 19thᵉ century scholar's brush - black horn and longevity symbol

Important Chinese letterer's brush from the XIXᵉ century, remarkable for its elegance and craftsmanship.

This calligraphy brush features a finely crafted, polished black horn handle adorned with a calligraphic symbol evoking traditional Chinese values such as happiness, longevity and elegance. Its particularly long tuft of bristles testifies to its use for washes and scholarly calligraphy.

The brush, called a "brush", is made of black polished horn.

The brush, also known as a wash brush, is one of the "Four Treasures of the Scholar's Cabinet" alongside ink, inkwell and paper. These essential tools for the practice of Chinese calligraphy have changed little since ancient times.

According to tradition, a good brush must combine four fundamental qualities:

Sen: a fine, precise point

Ken: a harmonious balance of bristles

Sei: perfect alignment

En: flexibility for fluid movement

The invention of the brush is traditionally attributed to General Meng Tian in the IIIᵉ century BC, although older forms date back nearly 4000 years.

Calligraphy, regarded in China as a major art on a par with music or poetry, reached its apogee during the Tang dynasty. It was subsequently enriched by the scholars of the Song, Yuan and Qing dynasties. The famous scholar Mi Fu (1051-1107) was one of the first to formalize the notion of the "Four Treasures"