Lot Essay
The inscription is a poem by the Qianlong emperor praising the virtues of the inkstone.
During the Kangxi period Songhua stone became one of the preferred stones used in the making of inkstones due to its excellent qualities in the grinding of ink, qualities similar to inkstones made from duan and she stone.
The lingzhi scroll border on the present inkstone is similar to that found on another Songhua stone rectangular inkstone illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Sunghua Inkstone, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1993, no. 60, p. 170, which is also inscribed with a Qianlong inscription. Rather than a ribbon-tied chime the National Palace Museum example has a ribbon-tied lotus spray in the well.
During the Kangxi period Songhua stone became one of the preferred stones used in the making of inkstones due to its excellent qualities in the grinding of ink, qualities similar to inkstones made from duan and she stone.
The lingzhi scroll border on the present inkstone is similar to that found on another Songhua stone rectangular inkstone illustrated in A Special Exhibition of Sunghua Inkstone, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1993, no. 60, p. 170, which is also inscribed with a Qianlong inscription. Rather than a ribbon-tied chime the National Palace Museum example has a ribbon-tied lotus spray in the well.