the teapot carved from a gnarled section of chenxiangmu (eaglewood), with slender tapered sides rising to high shoulders and a flared neck, set with a curved spout opposite a loop handle and a small protruding stump on one side, carved in low relief with a continuous scene of scholars among jagged rocks and verdant trees, one side with three sages conversing near two others engaged in a game of weiqi, the reverse with a group gathered at a table listening to their companion playing on a qin, all below undulous mountains and clouds encircling the shoulder, the handle and spout detailed with prunus branches, the neck decorated with a further scholar on a rocky path, the flat cover of conforming irregular outline surmounted by two rows of chrysanthemum petals culminating in a fruit finial, the base, rims and spout mounted in metal, the interior fitted with a metal liner; together with a pair of matching cups carved with sages and attendants sheltered beneath pine and bamboo or wutong trees