Detail View: National Palace English: Old Duan stone inkstone shaped like bell with kui dragons

Work ID: 
M010A0039
Title: 
Old Duan stone inkstone shaped like bell with kui dragons
Creation Date: 
Qing Dynasty
Start Year Date: 
A.D.1644
End Year Date: 
A.D.1911
Dynasty: 
63 Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1644~1911)
Creation Place: 
China
Measurements: 
Length: 14.6 cm; Width: 7.4~9.0 cm; Width: 2.7 cm
Material: 
Duan stone
Form: 
Yan (ink-stone)
Type: 
Studio accessories
Repository: 
The National Palace Museum, Taipei
Description: 
This piece is sculpted from a duan stone into the shape of a bell. This inkstone is purple with a light shade of yellow. The ink-face where ink is ground is shallowly depressed and slides down to the deeper depression where the inkwell is formed. The back is fully carved with a bell-like pattern. The top of the inkstone has a knot that assumes the shape of a horn less dragon. The body of the inkstone is decorated with an inscription of 24 characters framed by a beast-face pattern. The inscription reflects a scholar's mind: It is neither gold nor a company, but it accompanies me as the large bell does in the Confucius temple. I listen to silence and think about abstract, fully immersing myself in the art of writing." The endorsement is "Study Studio." The bell-bottom is wavy to imitate waves, and its wall is incised with a poem in zhuan-shu (seal style) by Qianlong.
ImageV ID: 
M010A0039AS001
Rights: 
Lee & Lee Communications