Page 23 - Elegantly Made, Art For The Literati, 2020, J.J. Lally, New York

4. A ‘DUCKS AND LO TUS’ SHE INKS T ONE AND C OVER
Song Dynasty (960-1279)

of rectangular sizhi yang form, carved from smooth dark gray she stone, the grinding surface sloping
abruptly down to form an angled water well at one end, with a squared and inset lip all around the
rim to receive the close-fitted flat cover carved in shallow relief with a pair of Mandarin ducks
swimming between large stylized lily pads in a tranquil pond.
Length 4¼ inches (10.9 cm)

A two-tier she inkstone of very similar form carved on the flat cover with a similar scene of a pair of Mandarin ducks in a
lotus pond was exhibited at the National Museum of History in Taipei and illustrated in the exhibition catalogue titled Hanhai
cangzhen: Zhonghua wenwu xuehui 30 zhounian ji’nian zhan (Treasures of the Chinese Culture and Fine Arts Association:
The 30th Anniversary Exhibition), Taipei, 2009, p. 146.
Compare the covered inkstone of similar form carved in shallow relief with stylized flowers and foliage on the flat cover,
excavated from a Northern Song tomb at Macheng, Hubei, illustrated in Kaogu, 1965, No. 1, pl. 5, fig. 10.

宋 歙石鴛鴦戲荷四直蓋硯 長 10.9 厘米