Details
A Chinese square inkstick carved with a scholar seated at a table before two figures in a fenced garden of willow trees and rockwork, the reverse with lines of calligraphy -- 4¾in. (12cm) wide, seal mark.
Inscribed to the reverse with a poem entitled 'The Black Pond' which is a refernce to the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi (AD 321-379) who was said to have blackened the water in a pond when practising calligraphy and also to have invented the 'orthodox style' of writing. Inscribed along one side 'Made on the order of Lord Cheng's household'.
Inscribed to the reverse with a poem entitled 'The Black Pond' which is a refernce to the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi (AD 321-379) who was said to have blackened the water in a pond when practising calligraphy and also to have invented the 'orthodox style' of writing. Inscribed along one side 'Made on the order of Lord Cheng's household'.