Page 197 - 2019 October Important Chinese Art Sotheby's Hong Kong

Although unsigned, this exquisite tianhuang brushrest, 此田黃枕書童子筆擱，雖無款，但雕刻靈動如生，以
intricately carved as a reclining boy with a cicada resting 足上夏蟬，交代納涼酣睡，又可解讀為「金蟬童子」
on his leg, is clearly the work of a master craftsman, ，乃財富的象徵。匠心獨運，想必出自清初能工巧
possibly one of the great carvers active in the early Qing 手，絕藝高技，不亞周彬、楊玉璇。據曾柱昭與莫
dynasty, such as Zhou Bin and Yang Yuxuan. According
to Gerald Tsang and Hugh Moss in the catalogue to the 士撝，早期田黃雕刻名家拒絕墨守成規，作品千變萬
exhibition Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Fung Ping Shan 化，無二盡同，詳見《文玩萃珍》，香港大學馮平山
Museum, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1986, p. 博物館， 香港，1986年，頁86。此筆擱選材上乘，雕
86, the early soapstone master carvers are set apart by 刻入微，童子五官精緻可愛，臥姿自然如生，完全吻
one key feature: every figure is conceived as an individual 合前述特質。孩童所穿華衣，以描金花卉祥雲為飾，
work of art. This characteristic is evident in the present 加上石料金黃之色，更添佳趣。
carving, which is notable not only for the outstanding piece
of tianhuang it has been fashioned from but also in the 此田黃石含紅絲，材質極佳。石質與此相近之例，可
careful and sensitive consideration of his facial expression
and details to convey his spirit and individuality, as well as 參考香港蘇富比在2016年4月8日拍出之田黃辟邪，編
the masterfully conceived robes, which fall naturalistically 號 3690。另可參考其他田黃人物雕像，如北京故宮博
around his body, and are intricately incised and gilded with 物院藏周彬雕文殊菩薩，收錄在《中國美術全集》，
floral and auspicious motifs. The golden hue of the precious 卷6，北京，1988年，圖版158。
stone further imbues this figure with a sense of vitality and
playfulness.
The same precise texture of tianhuang, suffused with
identical crimson-red inclusions in the stone, can be seen on
a tianhuang ‘bixie’ seal sold in these rooms, 8th April 2016,
lot 3690. For another example of tianhuang figural carving,
see the figure of Maitreya by Zhou Bin in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji [The complete
collection of Chinese art], vol. 6, Beijing, 1988, pl. 158.
A boy with cicada (Jinchan tongzi) is symbolic of wealth. In
traditional mythology, the boy with cicada is a reincarnation
of the golden cicada, and a previous manifestation of the
Tang monk, traveller and Xuanzang.