宋/明 端石二十八宿太史式硯SONG-MING DYNASTY (960-1644)宋/明 端石二十八宿太史式硯9 1/4 in. (23.7 cm.) long, Japanese wood boxDetails A VERY RARE DUAN INK STONESONG-MING DYNASTY (960-1644)The upper surface is smoothly polished with a narrow, shaped indentation on one end forming the inkwell beneath an olive-green ‘eye’, flanked by a twelve-character inscription praising the ‘eye’ and the quality of the inkstone, followed by a two-character illegible seal. The hollowed sloping underside is scattered with twenty-eight cylinders of varying heights representing the Twenty-Eight Mansions of the Chinese constellation system, each of these cylinders is centred with an ‘eye’. The right side of the ink stone is incised with an inscription in seal script signed crown prince Guang after the style of Ouyang Xiu, with three two-character seals reading Xiu yin (seal of Xiu), Yongshu (pseudonym of Ouyang Xiu), and zhenshang (appreciated by), respectively, opposite to a seven-character seal, Zhuyun shanzhuang wou luan shang (appreciated by the Villa of Bamboo and Clouds). The inscription on the left side is signed Wu Kuan, dated to the seventh month of the jiachen cyclical year of the Chenghua reign (1484), followed by a two-character seal, Pao’an (pseudonym of Wu Kuan), and another inscription signed Kuaiyu Tang dated to the first day of the first month of an unkonwn year during the Jiaqing reign (1796-1820), followed by a four-character seal of Wang Yuqing. The stone is of a deep purplish-brown colour with olive-green mottling and dark brown veining.9 1/4 in. (23.7 cm.) long, Japanese wood box Provenance Daigo Kyuka, a Japanese inkstone collector in the 20th century, by repute Exhibited Takashiyama Department Store, Yokohama, Exhibition of ink stones from the collection of Shikunshi-an, 7-12 February 1974, Catalogue, pp. 21-22 Gotoh Art Museum, Tokyo, Masterpieces of Chinese ink stones, 1-31 July 1977, Catalogue, p. 36, no. 42Yokohama Porta, Masterpieces of Chinese ink stones, 22-30 January 1983, Catalogue, pp. 44-45, no. 20 Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Honten, Tokyo, Masterpieces of Chinese ink stones, 16-21 October 1984, Catalogue, p. 28, no. 19 Conditions of sale