Fine Chinese Inlaid and Inscribed Zitan Brush Pot, Bitong, Late Qing or Republic Period The exterior of the cylindrical vessel inlaid with skillfully carved soapstone and serpentine pieces, tinted wood, mother-of-pearl, and coral, displaying geese resting under graceful flowering branches rising behind artful rocks adorned with lingzhi, and carved with a four-line inscription in austere regular script, the base sealed with a circular plug, the dense grain of typical dark whorl. Late Qing or Republic period. {Height: 7 1/2 inches (19 cm)}. Provenance: Property from a San Francisco collection.