DATED BY INSCRIPTION TO JIAJING RENWU YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1522, OR EARLIER

Details

AN INSCRIBED AND DATED DUAN INK STONE
DATED BY INSCRIPTION TO JIAJING RENWU YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO 1522, OR EARLIER
The inkstone is of dark purplish-brown color with two small olive-toned "eyes" in the grinding surface which ends in an arched upper edge beside the well at one end. One of the long sides is carved with a lengthy inscription in kaishu indicating the present ink stone was a gift from the Defense Minister Wugong to the inscriber. The other side has a twelve-character inscription, Jiajing renwu nian chun san yue Yang Yiqing zhi ('noted by Yang Yiqing on the third month of the Spring of the renwu year of Jiajing') followed by a seal reading Peiyuanxuan zhen cang (treasured by Peiyuan studio). The underside is cut with a deep, curved channel from which projects a truncated column, and one of the two eyes in the underside is highlighted within a raised medallion.
6 ¾ in. (17.1 cm.) long, zitan base and cover

Provenance

Christie's New York, 18 September 1997, lot 200.

Literature

S. Little, Spirit Stones of China, the Ian and Susan Wilson Collection of Chinese Stones, Paintings, and Related Scholars' Objects, Chicago, 1999, no. 51.
M. Knight, 'Scholar's Objects in the Ian and Susan Wilson Collection', Orientations, May 1999, p. 51, fig. 5.

Brought to you by

Michael Bass

asianartny@christies.com +1 212 636 2180

Lot Essay

Peiyuanxuan was probably the studio name of Yang Yiqing (1454-1530), who had held several important posts between the Hongzhi (1488-1505) and Jiajing periods (1522-1566), including the Minister of Interior. Here, Wugong may be referring to Wu Wending (1470-1530), the Minister of Defense who served the court at the same time with Yang. In his inscription, Yang expressed his gratitude to Wu for his gift and complimented the ink produced with the present ink stone by comparing it to fine wine.

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