A rare soapstone seal-paste box and cover


Shinong mark, 17th/18th century The cover superbly carved in varying levels of relief as a carp emerging from turbulent foaming waves, its mouth grasping a stem of a furled lotus leaf, its prominent fin partially covering the scaly body with a slightly curling tail, the scales and facial features all naturalistically carved in fine detail, the interior of the cover carved in relief with a lotus bloom, the underside of the box encircled by swirling waves at the rim, inscribed with a two-character mark in seal script, the stone of a creamy beige tone, box.10.8cm (4 1/4in) long (3).
|十七/十八世紀 壽山石雕「連年有餘」蓋盒「石農」篆書款The present box and cover is carved with what appears to be the carver's name, Shi Nong. It is very rare for a soapstone carving to bear the artist's name, and not all who are recorded have been identified such as the master carvers Yang Yuxuan and Zhou Bin. The appearance of this signature not only importantly adds to the repertoire of documented names of artists carving in soapstone, but also indicates that the artist considered the present box and cover to be of exceptional quality justifying his signature on it. Compare also with two soapstone boxes and covers, carved as a seated figure, 18th century, from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, which were sold at Christie's New York, 24 March 2011, lot 1403; See also a soapstone 'double-fan' box and cover, late Ming/early Qing dynasty, illustrated by G.Tsang and H.Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 2011, p.144, pl.115, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 25 May 2011, lot 219.壽山石質，質若膏腴，盒蓋隨形雕鱖魚一隻，口銜荷葉一朵蓋住半隻眼睛，眼仁上翻若有八大筆意。魚身肥碩，鱗甲規整，胸鰭、尾鰭上揚，尾鰭之下雕水波，波濤絲絲如縷，其上再圓雕珠子，大珠小珠，錯落有致。蓋內浮雕蓮花一朵，細刻經脈，刀若游絲。子母口，蓋盒嚴實，盒底雕水波紋一周，刀工與蓋同。盒底水波紋一側雕「石農」篆書款。查清代字號石農的藝術家有二人或可關聯，皆安徽人，一為范石農，黃山人，書法家，行篆隸無所不精。二為洪範，字石農，休寧人，一作歙縣人，博雅工詩，書法畫筆，俱磊落超雋，山水宗黃公望，墨竹師蘇軾，亦善花鳥。清代以來畫家常與工匠合作藝術品，上署名款。安徽因其地利，更有機會接觸壽山石和良工，惟何人作此已不可攷。 可比較美國賽克勒舊藏兩件十八世紀壽山石蓋盒，雕人物像，2011年3月24日售於佳士得紐約，拍品1404。另可參考一件明末清初壽山石雕雙扇蓋盒，著錄於曾柱昭及莫士撝編，《文玩珍粹》，頁144，圖版115，旋售於香港邦瀚斯，2011年5月25日，拍品219。