Page 108 - Reginald and Lena Palmer Collection EXHIBITION, Bonhams London Oct 25 to November 2 2021

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AN IMPERIALLY-INSCRIBED SONGHUA INKSTONE AND
BEIJING ENAMEL COVER
Kangxi Chenhan seal mark and of the period
11.1cm (4 1/2in) long.

清康熙 嵌母貝流雲紋松花石硯 配玳瑁及御製北京畫琺瑯花石圖硯盒
陰刻「以靜為用，是以永年」行書硯銘、「康熙宸翰」篆書款

Provenance:
Spink & Son Ltd., London
R.H.R Palmer (1898-1970), acquired from the above in April 1933,
Collection no.18

Published Illustrated, and Exhibited:
M.Gillingham, Chinese Painted Enamels, Ashmolean Museum,
Oxford, 1978, no.22
S.Jenyns, Chinese Art, vol.3, Oxford, 1981, pl.207

來源：
倫敦古董商Spink & Son Ltd.
R.H.R Palmer（1898-1970）於1933年4月購自上者，典藏編號18

展覽著錄：
M.Gillingham著，《Chinese Painted Enamels》，牛津阿什莫林博物
館，1978年，編號22
詹寧斯著，《Chinese Art》，卷三，牛津，1981年，圖版207

Although small, this inkstone had a conspicuous role to play as The stone slab is supported on a fitted, translucent, tortoiseshell base
the Kangxi Emperor grafted an unmistakable Manchu identity onto and encased in a Beijing painted enamel cover. The cover is exquisitely
a traditional scholar’s accessory that signified Han Chinese literati decorated with bamboo and peony issuing from gnarled rockwork on
culture, by fashioning it out of a newly-available stone, later known a bright Imperial-yellow ground. The bamboo would be a fitting subject
as Songhua stone (after the Sungari river), quarried in the Imperial for the scholar as it is considered one of the ‘Four Gentleman’ along
homeland of Manchuria. The mother-of-pearl too, in this instance with chrysanthemum, orchid and plum blossom. The bamboo had
would probably have come from Manchurian rivers. The efforts made long been adored by the literati for encapsulating some of their most
by the Kangxi Emperor in developing a distinctive Imperial Manchu cherished ideals: its growth reflected upright honesty, bending in the
inkstone style, and maintaining a supply of gifts, show his awareness wind without breaking reflected perseverance in adversity; its even
of the importance and symbolic value of inkstones within his minority- nodes, moderation and simple elegance. The sides are painted with
conquest regime. roundels and medallions in various geometric patterns.

The green stone is of elegant ‘tablet’ form, carved on one side with a flat Inkstones were among the first objects made in the Palace Workshops
grinding surface with a slightly recessed centre. The ‘forehead’ is carved in the heart of the Forbidden City. There appears to have been an
with swirling currents around the waterpool and inlaid with mother-of- Inkstone Workshop almost as soon as the formal establishment
pearl imitating frothing waves. At Court, Manchurian pearls - like the of the workshop system, known as the Workshops of the Imperial
Songhua stone - were part of the suite of products that represented Household (Zaoban Huoji Chu), began. In 1705, however, production
the Qing Court and its North-eastern roots. Like game meats and furs, of inkstones significantly increased and the Kangxi Emperor appointed
pearls represented the Manchus, their ways, and their homeland; see two designated superintendents to oversee production in the Hall of
J.Schlesinger, A World Trimmed With Fur: Wild Things, Pristine Places, Mental Cultivation. Although records of the Imperial Workshops were
and the Natural Fringes of Qing Rule, Stanford, 2017, p.56. The reverse scanty before the Yongzheng Emperor’s attentive management, we
of the inkstone is inscribed with an Imperial poem written in xingshu know that the Kangxi era Inkstone Workshop was staffed by artisans
(‘running script’) by the Kangxi Emperor: from Jiangnan, in the lower Yangzi river delta, who also carved ivory
and jade, as was the customary practice in subsequent reigns.
以靜為用，是以永年
It is no coincidence that the heightened production of inkstones tallied
This may be translated as: with the Qing dynasty’s transition from military to civil rule in 1681, after
the Kangxi Emperor quelled the rebellion of the Three Feudatories. It
‘Used in calmness, this will last for many years’ is likely that the Emperor made the discovery of Songhua stones in
1682, during his second pageantry tour to Manchuria, to report his
With a four-character seal reading 康熙宸翰 ‘Written by [Emperor] Kangxi’. victory and make offerings to his ancestral tombs. The Kangxi Emperor
recalled his delight at finding the green stone in an essay:

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