KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722), INKSTONE SIGNED GU ERNIANG

A native of Suzhou, Gu Erniang's maiden name was recorded as Zao, and she was probably active during the late Kangxi to Yongzheng periods. Married into a distinguished family of ink stone carvers, she became a carver of ink stones herself, probably after the death of her husband. For a discussion of Gu Erniang, see Zhongguo Meishu Jiarenming Cidian, Shanghai, 1985, p. 1531. Compare to a circular ink stone signed Gu Erniang with a similar simulated bamboo-woven base gifted by Mr and Mrs Zhang Zhenfang to the National Palace Museum, Taipei, accession number: zeng-wen-000014; and three Duan ink stones signed Gu Erniang in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, The Four Treasures of the Study – Writing Paper and Inkstones, Hong Kong, 2005, nos. 58-60, two of which dated, one to 1719 (no. 58), the other to 1721 (no. 60).