QIANLONG YUMING MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)

Details

AN IMPERIALLY INSCRIBED ZISHA INKSTONE, WHITE JADE-INSET ZITAN BOX AND COVER
QIANLONG YUMING MARK AND OF THE PERIOD (1736-1795)
The top of the inkstone is carved with a vase-shaped inkwell surrounded by an incised patterned-ground imitating the skin texture of a rhinoceros. The reverse is incised with an imperial poem by Emperor Qianlong ending with Qianlong dingyou yuming ‘Imperially inscribed by Qianlong in dingyou cyclical year’ (1777), followed by two square seals, jixia yiqing, and de jia qu. The side is incised with an eight-character inscription, Fang Song Deshoudian xiwen yan. The top of the zitan cover is incised and gilt with the same imperial poem and seals, below a white jade plaque inset.
Inkstone: 5 6/8 in. (14.3 cm.) long; box: 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm.) long, Japanese wood box

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Lot Essay

The present inkstone belongs to a group of ink stones made for imperial use or given as gifts to other imperial family members and distinguished officials during the Qianlong reign. An ink stone carved from She stone of the same form, pattern, and inscription, is in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in The National Palace Museum’s Ancient Inkstones Illustrated in the Imperial Catalogue Hsi-ch’ing yen-p’u, Taipei, 1997, p. 422-423, no. 93. The imperial poem is recorded in Qing Gaozong yuzhi shiwen quanji: yuzhiwen, vol. 2, juan 39 (fig. 1).

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