Lot 1227. A black lingbi Y-shaped scholar's rock, 18th-19th century; 21 in. (53.3 cm.) high. Estimate USD 30,000 - USD 50,000. Price realised USD 37,500. © Christie's Image Ltd 2010. 

The central, undulating shaft rising vertically from a small base and branching to form a 'Y' shape with one long and one short branch, the lustrous, evenly colored black stone with richly textured, dimpled surface, late 18th/19th century Jiangnan-style wood stand. 

Literature: N. Berliner, 'The Rosenblum Collection of Chinese Rocks', Orientations, November 1990, p. 73, fig. 9.
R.D. Mowry, Worlds Within Worlds: The Richard Rosenblum Collection of Chinese Scholars' Rocks, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 1997, p. 183, no. 16.

Exhibited: The Art Complex, Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Note: As cited by Robert D. Mowry in the entry for the present rock in Worlds Within Worlds, op. cit, p. 182, a radiocarbon test performed on a sample taken from the wood stand dated the wood itself between 1665 and 1825, a chronological span consistent with the present attribution.

Christie's. Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 16 - 17 September 2010