SONG DYNASTY (960-1279)

Details

A LARGE INSCRIBED 'ORCHID PAVILION' DUAN INKSTONE
SONG DYNASTY (960-1279)
The rectangular inkstone is carved on the top with figures within a pavilion overlooking a winding stream serving as the inkwell above an irregularly-shaped palette. The sides are carved with further scenes from the gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, each side inscribed with a lengthy poem. The sunken base is incised entirely with the Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion. The stone is of a dark-brown colour with a reddish undertone.
11 in. (28 cm.) long, wood cover and stand, Japanese wood box

Provenance

Su Zhu An Collection, Kyoto

Sale room notice

Please note that the title of this should read:
A LARGE INSCRIBED 'ORCHID PAVILLION' CHENGNI INKSTONE

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Lot Essay

The Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid is a prose composed by the famed calligrapher Wang Xizhi in the year 353, which recorded the event when 42 literati convened to celebrate the year's Spring Purification Festival at the Orchid Pavilion near Shaoxing. Wang Xizhi's work, written in semi-cursive script, became the most venerated and widely copied calligraphy in China's history.

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