Page 161 - September 20 2021 Chinese Works of Art Bonhams NYC

PROPERTY FROM THE ROBERT AND MEE-DIN MOORE
COLLECTION
246
AN INSCRIBED OCTAGONAL TRIPOD STONEWARE INKSTONE, The inscription on the underside of our commences with the two
NISHAN CHENGNI characters yan ming (inkstone inscription), followed by a sixteen-
Ming/Qing dynasty character Confucian text. This followed by three characters that read,
The shallow octagonal inkstone cut with a plain circular center below a Jianhai zhu (written by Jianhai). Three further characters on the edge
tri-lobed water-ink well, the brown and beige-mottled underside carved read Liang gong yan (Mr. Liang’s inkstone).
with a recessed circular panel with a lengthy inscription and with
shallow rising sides further inscribed with three characters, with equally Four kinds of inkstones are especially noted amongst serious
spaced short cylindrical legs. calligraphers and painters and are popularly known as the Four
6in (15.2cm) across, cover Famous inkstones. They comprise Duan (from Zhaoqing, Guangdong
province), She (made in She county, Anhui province), Tao(he) (from
$2,000 - 3,000 Taozhou, Gansu province), and Chengni (made of ceramic in Luoyang,
Henan province). The latter are said to have been first used during
明/清 紅木蓋「見海」銘三足硯 the Tang dynasty. The name Ming Chengni, arose because they were
thought to be made near Confucius’s home, Ni shan (Mt. Ni). The
Confucian writings often found on these seem to sustain this theory.
The inkstone is also referred as Nishan yan – inkstone from Nishan.

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