Page 86 - Bonhams, Roger Keverne Moving on Part 1 May 11, 2021 London

133
A RARE MOTHER-OF-PEARL-INLAID ‘SEVEN SAGES OF THE
BAMBOO GROVE’ WRITING BOX AND COVER
Ming Dynasty, with later Japanese inkstone and waterpot
The rectangular slightly-bevelled cover finely inlaid with iridescent
mother-of-pearl depicting seven scholars engaged in various leisurely
pursuits, playing guqin, weiqi and in conversation, all within a bamboo
grove beside a thatched retreat, accompanied by three attendants,
the box decorated on the exterior on each side with a quatrelobed
cartouche enclosing sages and attendants, reserved on a basket-
weave diaper ground, all edges with rope-twist silver-wire inlay, the
underside of the cover inlaid in mother-of-pearl with a twenty-eight-
character poem, the base containing two loose rectangular lacquer
trays divided by a later Japanese rectangular inkstone and bronze
waterpot. 25cm (9 7/8in) x 24cm (9 1/4in). (6).
£1,200 - 1,500
CNY11,000 - 14,000

Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價

明 黑漆嵌螺鈿竹林七賢圖硯箱 配較晚日本硯石及水丞

133 The motif on the cover is that of the ‘Seven Sages of the Bamboo
Grove’, a group of scholars, artists and musicians from the 3rd
century who escaped the corruption and turbulence of court to devote
themselves to the arts, usually under the strong influence of wine. The
poem inlaid in mother-of-pearl to the underside of the cover reads:

初日暉暉 照翠苔

庭前昨夜碧桃開
一簾香霧微風動
知是仙人騎鶴來

Which may be translated as:

Morning sun, clear and bright, shines on the emerald moss.
Last night, in the courtyard, the flowering peach bloomed.
As soon as the screen opens, a fragrance wafts on the gentle breeze.
From this can be known an Immortal had to come, riding on his crane.

The poem is by Zhang Yuchu (?-1410) zi Xinfu, Zixuan, hao Zhengyi,
Wu Weizi, from Jiangxi Province. This poem also appears in a slightly
different version on either side of the archway to the Liushan Academy
in Wuning, Jiangxi Province. See a related example, Yuan dynasty, in
Mother-of-Pearl Inlay in Chinese Lacquer Art, Tokyo, 1979, pl.15.

134
A MOTHER-OF-PEARL-INLAID LACQUER TRAY
Ming Dynasty
The rectangular lacquered body with curved sides and cusped
corners, decorated to the interior with a vertical cartouche enclosing
figures under a willow tree in a pavilion garden, on a diamond diaper
ground, the sides decorated with scrolling foliage, all inlaid with
mother-of-pearl, the reverse lacquered brown. 38.5cm (15 2/8in) long.
£1,000 - 1,500
CNY9,000 - 14,000
Please note this Lot is to be sold at No Reserve. 本拍品不設底價

明 黑漆嵌螺鈿人物圖盤

See a related mother-of-pearl-inlaid lacquer tray, Ming dynasty,
illustrated in Chinesische Lackkunst: Eine deutsche Privatsammlung,
Munster, 2010, p.86. See also S.Kwan, Chinese Mother-of-Pearl,
Hong Kong, 2009, no.39 and no.62. See also another related mother-
of-pearl-inlaid lacquer tray, 16th century, which was sold at Sotheby’s
London, 10 May 2017, lot 146.

134

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
84 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.