Ink rubbing stone

An ink rubbing stone of slab form, the top left hand corner carved with a branch of prunus flowers with a bird in flight above it. The top right hand corner is carved with a large bat to the right of a cavity. The animal spreads its wings to encompass the corner. The upper rim of the inkstone is slightly raised. The stone is of uniform black colour with some white inclusions and a prominent white eye forming a bud on the branch of prunus.

Very similar carving features on the “Cloud s and Moon” inkstone, made of Duan stone that was included in an exhibition in Hong Kong in 1986. [1]

Provenance: Private collection, Germany

1. Tsang, G. and Moss, H. Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong, 1986, no. 192, p. 212