Lot 8016. An extremely rare Duan ink stone, Song-Ming dynasty (960-1644); 9 1/2 in. (24.1 cm.) wide. Estimate HKD 400,000 - HKD 600,000. Price realised HKD 1,750,000. © Christie's Images Ltd 2018.

The upper surface is smoothly polished with a narrow, shaped indentation on one end forming the inkwell beneath an olive-green ‘eye’. The hollowed sloping underside is scattered with twenty-eight cylinders of varying heights representing the Twenty-Eight Mansions of the Chinese constellation system, below another ‘eye’ at the corner symbolising the moon, each of these cylinders is centred with an ‘eye’. The stone is of a deep purplish-brown colour with olive-green mottling and dark brown veining.

Provenance: Date Family, acquired in 19th century (by repute)
Nagao Uzan (1864-1942), Kyoto
Matsunaga Shuji (1884-1972), Tokushima Prefecture
Shimoda Kozan (dates unknown), acquired in 1938
Matsubayashi Gadai (dates unknown), acquired before 1943
A Japanese private collection, acquired in the late 1980s.

Literature: Shoen, vol. 3: no. 1, Tokyo, 1939, p. 47 (fig. 1)
Meikenten, Tokyo, 1987, no. 13.

Exhibited: Mayuyama Ryusendo, Meikenten, 9-15 October 1987, no. 13.

Note: Duan stones are the most admired materials for grinding ink, and had been mined from Zhaoqing, Guangzhou as early as the Tang dynasty. The stones are known for their smoothness, which allows for easier grinding without damaging the brushes. Duan stones contain several kinds of veining and patterns, one of the most desirable attributes is the ‘eye’, which is a natural inclusion that exists in the form of concentric circles. The value of an inkstone depends on the number and quality of the ‘eyes’. Its desirability is determined by the quantity of ‘eyes’ present, their roundness, size, and colour intensity of the concentric circles. An ‘eye’ that resembles a crested myna is the rarest and receives the highest praise, such as the ones found on the present inkstone.