AN IMPERIAL INSCRIBED CHENGNI INKSTONE

Details

AN IMPERIAL INSCRIBED CHENGNI INKSTONE
INSCRIBED WITH A CYCLICAL WUWU YEAR, CORRESPONDING TO A.D. 1738 AND OF THE PERIOD

The rounded-rectangular tablet of a teadust tone, carved on one side with a rabbit in one corner looking up at the moon hollowed as a well, the reverse with a draped traveller riding on a donkey in a wintery landscape, incised with two Imperial poems including one by Qianlong bearing a cyclical date, the lower left hand corner with the maker's name, Wang Jingming
5 3/4 in. (14 cm.) long

Lot Essay

The wintery landscape scene carved on the reverse was probably inspired by early Ming dynasty Zhe school painting.

Chengni clay from Jiangzhou, Shanxi province, was one of the most prized materials in the production of inkslabs beside those of Duanzhou stone from Guangdong province and Shexian stone from Anhui province.

(US$16,000-20,000)

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