Page 180 - The Parry Collection Bonhams London November 2 2021

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A RARE LARGE INSCRIBED SOAPSTONE ‘ODE TO THE RED
CLIFFS’ SEAL
Signed Lu Yuan Lin Ji and Ji Ren, Qing Dynasty
Skillfully carved in the form of a mountain, decorated in low relief with
a continuous scene depicting an idyllic mountainscape with Su Shi,
another scholar and a boatman travelling on a sampan floating on
calm waters, crossing tree-strewn riverbanks dotted with dwellings
and intricate foliage, all below an extract from the poem ‘Former Ode
on the Red Cliffs’ by Su Shi, signed Ji Ren, the reverse inscribed with
an extract from the ‘Second Ode to the Red Cliffs’ by Su Shi, signed
Lu Yuan Lin Ji between further pavilions, pawlonia trees and bamboo
stalks, the base with a twelve-character inscription.
11.2cm (4 1/2in) high.

£40,000 - 60,000
CNY360,000 - 540,000

清 壽山石浮雕「赤壁賦」印章
「吉人」、「鹿原林佶」刻款

Provenance:
Parry Collection, London, and thence by descent

來源：
倫敦Parry家族收藏，並由後人保存迄今

The remarkable skill of the carver is demonstrated through his success Mountainous landscape scenes carved with scholars and sages were
in transcribing a landscape image, likely derived from a painting or popular during the 18th century, reflecting the ideal peaceful retirement
woodblock, onto a three-dimensional object by working through the of the literati class or a momentary escape from the quotidian world of
uneven surface of the stone to create a continuous, three-dimensional mundane affairs to idealised pursuits taken between official posts: a
canvas for the relief decoration. dreamlike desire perhaps even more remote from the lifelong service of
the Emperor.
The inscriptions on the front and reverse of the seal are carved,
respectively, with the First and Second Odes to the Red Cliffs by Compare with a related but smaller (6.5cm high) tianhuang seal,
Su Shi (1037-1102 AD), a famous poet and calligrapher of the mid Qing dynasty, depicting the scene Qiujian daidu (‘Waiting for the
Song dynasty. ferry on an autumn river’), in the collection of the Palace Museum,
Beijing, published on the Museum’s website: http://www.dpm.org.cn/
The First Ode to the Red Cliffs may be translated as: ‘A cool breeze collection/seal/228550.html; and another small (4.8cm high) tianhuang
was wafting, too gentle to ripple the water. Raising my cup, I toasted seal, Qing dynasty, decorated with scenes of the Red Cliffs, illustrated
my friends and chanted the stanza on the gentle and graceful orb in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Small
from the verse about the bright moon. Jiren’. Refined Articles of the Study, Shanghai, 2009, no.249.

The Second Ode to the Red Cliffs may be translated as ‘The flowing Lin Ji (circa 1660-1720) is also known by his style name Ji Ren and
river gurgled between cliffs that rose to a height of a thousand feet. sobriquets Lu Yuan and Ziwei Neishi. He was awarded the Jinshi
The moon looked small over the lofty mountains. As the river fell low, degree in 1713 for his services at Court. He was a noted poet and
the rocks came into view. It was only a few months since I last visited calligrapher, specialising in xiaokai (small regular script), seal and cleric
and now the mountains and the river were hardly recognisable! Luyuan scripts. He had a substantial collection of rare and fine books in his
Lin Ji’. library the ‘Puxuezhai’.

The inscription on the base of the seal, ‘wu wei qi suo bu wei, wu yu qi Compare with a related soapstone ‘boulder’ seal, Republic period,
suo bu yu’, is a famous quotation by Confucian philosopher Mencius decorated with a mountainous landscape, which was sold at Bonhams
and could be translated as: ‘Let a man not do what his own sense of London, 10 November 2011, lot 385. See also a related tianhuang
righteousness tells him not to do, and let him not desire what his sense boulder decorated with a riverscape and a sampan, which was sold at
of righteousness tells him not to desire.’ Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 May 2019, lot 3001.

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
178 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.