拍品專文
For a discussion of the Official School of hard-stone carving, see Moss, Graham, Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff Bottles, vol. 2, Quartz, no. 258 and the several subsequent examples which are all of the school.
In an extraordinarily imaginative interpretation of the natural material, the carver has created a beautifully rendered tabby-cat from the tortoiseshell mottling of the darker markings. He has also created a most convincing natural rock sculpture and utilized the sparse areas of color to tint the flower of the orchid. The symbolism intended wishes the recipient longevity. The Chinese character for cat (mao) sounds like the character for septuagenarian, while the character for butterfly (die) sounds like the character for octogenarian. The orchid represents the ideal scholar-gentleman and, therefore, integrity.
In an extraordinarily imaginative interpretation of the natural material, the carver has created a beautifully rendered tabby-cat from the tortoiseshell mottling of the darker markings. He has also created a most convincing natural rock sculpture and utilized the sparse areas of color to tint the flower of the orchid. The symbolism intended wishes the recipient longevity. The Chinese character for cat (mao) sounds like the character for septuagenarian, while the character for butterfly (die) sounds like the character for octogenarian. The orchid represents the ideal scholar-gentleman and, therefore, integrity.