Page 77 - Christie's Leisurely Life May 29, 2019 Hong Kong

PROPERTY FROM A HONG KONG FAMILY COLLECTION
2959
A MING CONFUCIUS-STYLE ‘BELLS ON A
FROSTY DAY’ LACQUERED QIN
WANLI PERIOD (1573-1620)
The qin is of Confucius style, gracefully waisted along two ends of
the body, the upper surface gently convex and inlaid with mother-
of-pearl studs, hui. The underside has two rectangular sound
holes, termed as longchi ‘dragon pool’ and the smaller as fengzhao
‘phoenix pond’. The name of the qin is incised above the ‘Dragon
Pool’, Shuangtian lingduo, ‘Bells on a frosty day’. Two ten-character
inscriptions in running script are carved on either side of the
‘Dragon Pool’, which can be translated as: ‘crisp, smooth, buoyant,
rich, its sound reverberates like a bell on a frosty day; harmonious,
pure, distinct, unceasing, it sings the golden age of Yao and Shun’.
Below the ‘Dragon Pool’ are three carved seals. The first is a two-
character seal arranged in the shape of a bell reading Huangnan, the
pseudonym of Prince Yi. The second is four-character seal reading
Yifan yazhi (elegantly made for the Fief of Yi). The third seal reads
Youcheng yangde (rejoicing in sincerity, nurturing virtue). The
instrument’s strings are threaded through seven tasselled tuning
pegs made of buffalo horn. Each string is arranged over the upper
surface and tied to either of the two hardwood pegs. The lacquer
surfaces are suffused with ‘serpent-belly’ cracks admixed with
‘flowing-water’ crackles.
Overall length: 47 æ in. (121.3 cm.)
Width of shoulders: 7 ƒ in. (19.2 cm.)
HK$800,000-1,200,000 US$110,000-150,000

PROVENANCE
Yang Shibo (1863-1932) (by repute)
EXHIBITED
The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong and the Art Gallery,
the Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000 Years of Chinese
Lacquer, Hong Kong, 24 September – 21 November 1993,
Catalogue, no. 114
inscription
㠺ᙔ
The current qin was commissioned by the Prince of Yi, Zhu
Yiyin, whose style-name was Huang Nan. Qin commissioned
by Prince of Yi are mostly in the Confucius-style, with most of
them preserved in museum collections, including the Tianjin
Museum, the Palace Museum, Beijing, and the Three Gorges
Museum. A similar qin with almost identical inscriptions,
except for the name of the qin being inscribed in cursive script,
is illustrated in Van Gulik, Lore of the Chinese Lute, Tokyo,
1940, pl. XVI.
The current qin was reputedly in the collection of Yang Shibo
(1863-1932), the pre-eminent qin scholar of the late Qing and
Republic period, who is often regarded as the ‘foremost qin
master of the Republic Era’. Yang published his magna opus
Qinxue congshu [Series on the Study of Qin] between 1911
and 1931, which includes thirty-two qin scores, and his music
theory. In the chapter Qinhua, Yang mentions his acquisition of
a Prince of Yi qin with the inscription of ‘bells on a frosty day’,
which may be the current qin (fig. 1).

fig. 1
எӬ
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