A SONGHUA INKSTONE AND A CARVED ZITAN FITTED BOX

Details

A SONGHUA INKSTONE AND A CARVED ZITAN FITTED BOX
KANGXI SEAL MARK AND OF THE PERIOD

The inkstone is in a rectangular form, the grinding area has a subtle convex surface and dips at one end to form a receptacle for gathering of ink, simplistically decorated with a fish suspending from a ribbon tied to a musical stone carved in shallow relief on the slope; the fitted zitan box is plain and raised on four shallow bracket feet, the cover is carved in openwork with elaborate C-scrolls
the inkstone with zitan fitted box
6 x 4 1/8 in. (15.2 x 10.5 cm.)

Lot Essay

The inscription on the reverse is translated as 'For use in quietude, to bring everlasting years'; it is followed by a seal, Kangxi Chen Han, Imperial signature of Kangxi. Compare with a related Songhua inkstone in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, with the same inscription but the facing side carved with a bat, included in 'A Special Exhibition of Songhua Inkstone', illustrated in the Catalogue, p. 78, no. 15. Compare also the similarities between the zitan frame of the present lot with the stone frame illustrated, op. cit., p. 79.

Songhua is a limestone mineral of striated pale sea-green colour.

(US$11,000-13,000)

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