Description
made of refined clay, modelled in the form of a rooftile, the rectangular tile arched in the middle and slanted to the long sides, the centre carved with an oblong channel beneath a sloping semi-circular depression, framed by inscriptions in varying scripts, including a poetic inscription praising the inkstone, signed Xiangyang Mi Fu ming ('inscribed by Mi Fu of Xiangyang'), as well as the seals Yuyutang yin ('seal of the Hall of Jade Rain'), Shiyou cang ('Collection of the Friend of Stone') and Guquan Shanguan ('Mountain House by the Ancient Stream'), the concave underside centred a high-relief vertical inscription reading Jian'an shiwu nian ('fifteenth year of the Jian'an period', corresponding to AD 210) above a recumbent water buffalo, the surface of a dark purplish-brown colour
Catalogue Note
Made from refined clay and modelled in the form of a roof tile, the current piece reflects the traditional appreciation of ancient tiles, especially from legendary sites such as Weiyang Palace from the Western Han, as well as the Bronze Bird Terrace built in the 15th year of the Jian’an period, Eastern Han (AD 210). The practice of modifying ancient tiles as inkstones is believed to begin in the mid-Tang dynasty, and continued to be popular throughout the ages until the Qing dynasty. Authentic tiles from the Han dynasty were extremely rare and ancient copies were made as early as the Five Dynasties to the early Song to satisfy the demand of the scholars and collectors.
A comparable inkstone in the style of Han tile, attributed to the Song dynasty, also inscribed by the renowned painter, calligrapher and connoisseur Mi Fu (1051-1107) and moulded with the apocryphal mark Jian’an shiwu nian, has been preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei. Originally in the Qing Court collection and recorded in the Qinding Xiqing Yanpu [The definitive manual of inkstones] compiled on the order of the Qianlong Emperor, it is illustrated in Emperor Ch’ien-lung’s Grand Cultural Enterprise, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 2002, cat. no. II-21, and, together with four other similar inkstones, in The National Palace Museum’s Ancient Inkstones Illustrated in the Imperial Catalogue Hsi’ch’ing yen-p’u, National Palace Museum, Taipei, 1999, cat. nos. 2-6.
