Page 45 - Elegantly Made, Art For The Literati, 2020, J.J. Lally, New York

13. A PAIR OF INSCRIBED PEWTER TEA C ADDIES
By Shen Cunzhou (active 17th Century)

the twin caddies perfectly matched, making a bracket-lobed form of quatrefoil section when placed
together side-by-side, raised on shallow leaf-shaped feet at the margins of the flat bases and capped
by close-fitting inset lids of matching form, bearing long inscriptions carved on the flat inner faces
and on the bases.

One caddy with the title in seal script: 心曠神怡 (Mind Free
and Sprit Happy), a phrase from the essay 岳陽樓記
(Recollections of Yueyang Tower) by the poet Fan Zhongyan
(989-1052), followed by an excerpt in regular script from the
essay 獨樂園記 (Reminiscences of the Garden for Solitary
Enjoyment) by the eminent scholar and high official Sima
Guang (1019-1086), with a one-line inscription using Sima
Guang’s posthumous title “Duke of the State of Wen”: 溫公獨
樂園 (Duke Wen’s Garden of Solitary Enjoyment) followed by
the signature 沈存周製 (made by Shen Cunzhou) and two
seals of the artist: 存 Cun and 周 Zhou;

incised on the base of the same caddy is a poem entitled 春日
行近山 (Spring Day Outing to Nearby Mountains) by Huang
Chushi (1288-1362), followed by one seal of the artist’s hao:
竹居 (Bamboo Retreat);

the other caddy inscribed with the title in seal script: 芝蘭之味
(Flavor of Iris and Orchid), followed by the text of 陋室銘 (An
Inscription for my Humble Cottage) by Liu Yuxi (772-842),
identified as such after the text and followed by the signature
of the artist 竹居主人 (Master of the Bamboo Retreat) and one
seal of the artist’s hao: 竹居 (Bamboo Retreat), the base of the
caddy with a couplet taken from the poem 綠蔭亭 (Green
Shade Pavilion) by Wang Qi (active 997-1022), incised in
clerical script.

Height 3½ inches (9 cm)