Page 82 - SOtheby's Hong Kong Hawthorne Collection Scholar's Art May 2018

Detail

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AN INSCRIBED OLIVE-STONE CARVING OF A 清同治三年（1864年） 湛谷生作核雕夜遊赤壁舫
BOAT, BY GUSHENG 《谷生老道人作》款
QING DYNASTY, TONGZHI PERIOD, DATED
JIAZI YEAR (IN ACCORDANCE WITH 1864) 核底刻「前赤壁賦」：
甲子年七月
intricately carved with attendants fanning under the awning 壬戌之秋，七月既望，蘇子與客泛舟遊於赤壁之下。清風
and passengers looking out, each end of the boat with two
passengers seated at a table and a group of passengers riding 徐來，水波不興，舉酒屬客，誦明月之詩，歌窈窕之章。
on top of the roof, for a total of twenty-six passengers, deftly 少焉，月出於東山之上，徘徊於鬥牛之間，白露橫江，水
rendered with openable windows, the underside incised with 光接天；縱一葦之所如，淩萬頃之茫然。浩浩乎如憑虛御
a poem, paying tribute to the poet Su Shi who visited the Red 風，而不知其所止；飄飄乎如遺世獨立，羽化而登仙。
Cliff (Chibi), signed Gusheng laodaoren zuo and dated to the
谷生老道人作
seventh lunar month of the jiazi year
4.3 cm, 1¾ in.

HK$ 20,000-30,000
US$ 2,550-3,850
The vogue for miniature crafts, including carving on olive, those depicting the Song dynasty poet Su Shi and his
peach, walnut and various other fruit stones was started during companions in a pleasure boat visiting the Red Cliff (Chibi).
the reign of the Qianlong Emperor and remained popular
Compare a carved walnut, the shell worked in high relief with
throughout the Qing and Republican era. Examples of imperial
a design of figures and dragons amongst a flower and rock
miniature craft are illustrated in Masterpieces of Chinese
landscape, included in the exhibition The Minor Arts of China
Miniature Craft in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1971, pls.
IV, Spink and Son Ltd., London, 1989, cat. no. 28; and a pair of
1-50, with an introduction to its history, pp. 78-9.
finely carved walnut-shell hand exercisers illustrated in Gerard
The present carving is the work of Gusheng (1802-1876), a Tsang and Hugh Moss, Arts from the Scholar’s Studio, Hong
scholar who became a xiucai (county-level rank) at the age of Kong, 1986, pl. 259. See also another olive-stone carving of a
22, but did not progress any further. A native of Guangdong, sampan by Gusheng, sold in these rooms, 2nd June 2016, lot
Gusheng took up a career as a carver specialising in miniature 77, from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat collection.
craft. He became known for his olive-stone carvings, especially
80 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比