A VERY RARE DUAN INK STONE - photo 1
A VERY RARE DUAN INK STONE - photo 2
A VERY RARE DUAN INK STONE - photo 3
A VERY RARE DUAN INK STONE - photo 4

A VERY RARE DUAN INK STONE

Sold
HKD 529 200
Auction dateClassic
30.05.2023 00:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 963283
Lot 3114 | A VERY RARE DUAN INK STONE
A VERY RARE DUAN INK STONE

SONG-MING DYNASTY (960-1644)

The upper surface is smoothly polished with a narrow, shaped indentation on one end forming the inkwell beneath an olive-green ‘eye’, flanked by a twelve-character inscription praising the ‘eye’ and the quality of the inkstone, followed by a two-character illegible seal. The hollowed sloping underside is scattered with twenty-eight cylinders of varying heights representing the Twenty-Eight Mansions of the Chinese constellation system, each of these cylinders is centred with an ‘eye’. The right side of the ink stone is incised with an inscription in seal script signed crown prince Guang after the style of Ouyang Xiu, with three two-character seals reading Xiu yin (seal of Xiu), Yongshu (pseudonym of Ouyang Xiu), and zhenshang (appreciated by), respectively, opposite to a seven-character seal, Zhuyun shanzhuang wou luan shang (appreciated by the Villa of Bamboo and Clouds). The inscription on the left side is signed Wu Kuan, dated to the seventh month of the jiachen cyclical year of the Chenghua reign (1484), followed by a two-character seal, Pao’an (pseudonym of Wu Kuan), and another inscription signed Kuaiyu Tang dated to the first day of the first month of an unkonwn year during the Jiaqing reign (1796-1820), followed by a four-character seal of Wang Yuqing. The stone is of a deep purplish-brown colour with olive-green mottling and dark brown veining.

9 1/4 in. (23.7 cm.) long, Japanese wood box





Provenance

Daigo Kyuka, a Japanese inkstone collector in the 20th century, by repute



Exhibited

Takashiyama Department Store, Yokohama, Exhibition of ink stones from the collection of Shikunshi-an, 7-12 February 1974, Catalogue, pp. 21-22

Gotoh Art Museum, Tokyo, Masterpieces of Chinese ink stones, 1-31 July 1977, Catalogue, p. 36, no. 42

Yokohama Porta, Masterpieces of Chinese ink stones, 22-30 January 1983, Catalogue, pp. 44-45, no. 20

Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Honten, Tokyo, Masterpieces of Chinese ink stones, 16-21 October 1984, Catalogue, p. 28, no. 19
Medium:Stone
Historical era:Ming dynasty
Place of origin:China, Eastern Asia, Asia
Auction house category:All other types of objects
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
30.05.2023 – 30.05.2023
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.