Page 99 - 2020 December 1 Bonhams Hong Kong, Eternal Music in Chinese art

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A ZITAN KUNQU OPERA CLAPPER, PAIBAN
Guangxu, cyclically dated to the Jiachen year, corresponding to 1904
and of the period
Made of three solidly carved rectangular slats of dark and lustrous
zitan wood, tied together loosely at one end with a chord, finely
incised in cursive calligraphy.
25cm (9 13/16) long.
HKD10,000 - 15,000
US$1,300 - 1,900
光緒甲辰（1904年）王大炘刻俞粟廬舊藏昆曲紫檀拍板

Provenance:
Yu Sulu (1847-1930) collection (inscription)
An important Asian private collection

來源：俞粟廬（1847-1930）舊藏（銘文）
亞洲重要私人收藏

The inscriptions read:

煙波跌宕紅塵外
風月縱橫玉笛中 (front)
俞粟廬先生惠佩
光緒甲辰年孟春王大炘刻 (back)

Which may be translated as:

‘Wafts of smoke rise and fall outside the world of red dust,
The breeze and moon cross each other amidst jade flutes’
With respect to Mr Yu Sulu
Carved by Wang Daxin in the early Spring of the Jiachen year of the
Guangxu reign (corresponding to 1904)’.

Yu Sulu (1847-1930) styled Zonghai (宗海), sobriquet Tao’an (韜盦),
father of Kunqu opera master Yu Zhenfei (1902-1993), was a native
of Lou County in Songjiang. He was a master singer of Kunqu opera.
He was also a scholar of epigraphy and was well versed in calligraphy,
particularly favouring the Northern Wei stele style. As an adolescent
Yu Sulu started to learn and practise horsemanship and archery in the
garrison at Songjiang. He was appointed as commandant of Jinshanwei
in 1881; later he was transferred to the Taihu garrison for administrative
and clerical tasks. He resigned from officialdom in 1894 and moved to
Suzhou to teach while devoting himself to the study of the classics.

Yu Sulu recorded 13 Kunqu opera pieces in 6 records and compiled
the Du Qu Chu Yan (度曲芻言). His son, Yu Zhenfei, later became a
Kunqu opera master in his own right, and edited the Sulu Sheet Music
(粟廬曲譜) in 1953.

紫檀質，三片，為崑曲宗師俞振飛之父俞粟廬舊藏，前後兩板有王大
炘題刻，前板：「煙波跌宕紅塵外 風月縱橫玉笛中」，後板：「俞粟
廬先生惠佩 光緒甲辰年孟春王大炘刻」。

崑曲拍板為定板眼之用，常與崑笛或點鼓搭配，為唱曲必備之物，其
形制與用法和《清稗類鈔》中所載番部拍同：「番部拍，紫檀板三
片，以二片為一束，執一片拍之。拍小於拍板，番部拍又小於慶隆舞
拍，其用則同。」舊藏者俞粟廬俞粟廬（1847－1930），名宗海，
以字行，別號韜盦，清松江府婁縣（今松江縣）人，崑曲家，二十世
紀崑曲巨擘俞振飛之父。精通金石，工書法，重「北碑」，精於書畫
鑑定，嘗受聘爲上海收藏家李平書，校其「平泉書屋」所藏。其子俞
振飛盡得家學，民國十年（1921年）蘇州開辦崑劇傳習所，該所創辦
人之一穆藕初每每視察必邀俞粟廬同往，俞年逾古稀仍熱忱為崑曲後
進出謀劃策。 1953年，俞振飛根據家學，輯成《粟廬曲譜》兩冊，
至今為傳習崑曲必備。題刻者王大炘（1869-1924），字冠山，因治
斯冰之學，故號冰銕，別號懽山民、巏山民。齋堂為冰鐵堪、南齊石
室。工治印，醉心於秦、漢之法，又廣學諸家，作品面目不拘一格，
秀麗清瘦，布局多平整工穩，曾名噪一時，與苦鐵（吳昌碩）、瘦鐵
（錢崖）有并稱「海上三鐵」之譽。存世有《王冰鐵印存》。
(two views)