Minneapolis Institute of Art

Inkstone

Chou Shao-lung

Date

c. 1740

Medium

Tuan stone

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

The shape and properties of this inkstone from Duanzhou in Guangdong province derive from classical models of the late Tang and Song dynasties (10th century). A forty-two character inscription carved in official script ( li shu ) appears on the bottom, followed by a signature and two carved seals of Zhou Shaolong, an eighteenth-century inkstone carver. Duan inkstones became appreciated and collected by Song literary men. Some of the Tuan inkstones of both Su Shi (1036-1101) and Mi Fei (1051-1107) for instance have survived to the present day. Not until the Ming and Qing dynasties, however, did Duan inkstones become extremely high-quality scholar's objects. The most desirable were carved and inscribed with documentary verse, they soon became collector's items. China, Asia

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