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Lot Essay
Lu Kuisheng (1779 – 1850) was a native of Yangzhou and hailed from a family known for making lacquer wares. Lu Kuisheng had inherited from his grandfather Lu Yingzhi the skill of making light-bodied lacquered wood inkstones covered with a mixture of qisha, ‘lacquer and sand’, which he further perfected with remarkable lightness and velvety texture. Also known as a talented painter, Lu Kuisheng imbued his lacquer works with keen artistic acumen, as evident from the current box and cover, which has a thoughtfully balanced composition achieved by a careful selection and placement of colourful materials, achieving a visual effect akin to Song-dynasty ‘bird-and-flower’ paintings.
Works by Lu Kuisheng are preserved in various museums, including the Palace Museum, Beijing, which has a similar set of inkstone and box inlaid with a scene of cockerels and flowers, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, pp. 254-255, no. 189. For another qisha inkstone accompanied by a stand and a similarly embellished cover, see the example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2018, lot 2955.
Works by Lu Kuisheng are preserved in various museums, including the Palace Museum, Beijing, which has a similar set of inkstone and box inlaid with a scene of cockerels and flowers, see The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum – Lacquer Wares of the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong, 2006, pp. 254-255, no. 189. For another qisha inkstone accompanied by a stand and a similarly embellished cover, see the example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 May 2018, lot 2955.