11th Apr, 2024 11:00
TWO-DAY AUCTION: Fine Asian Art, Buddhism and Hinduism
96
A YING SCHOLAR’S ROCK, LATE MING TO MID-QING DYNASTY
Sold for €1,690
including Buyer's Premium
China, c. 17th-18th century. Of columnar form with extensive perforations and concave surfaces throughout. The stone of an attractive mottled color variegating from charcoal toward the top over pale gray to a creamy beige near the bottom.
Provenance: From a private estate in New England, USA.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few structural cracks, minor fissures, nicks, and scratches.
Weight: 6.6 kg (excl. base) and 7.5 kg (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 54 cm (excl. base) and 65 cm (incl. base)
Mounted to a hardwood base. (2)
As far back as the Song Dynasty, naturally weathered rocks were collected and displayed for pleasure and by the 17th century individual rocks were important and respected enough to have portraits commissioned. Exceptional examples possess good shape, texture and color, and have resonance when struck. Given these qualities a viewer can admire the strength of outline, perhaps seeing a mountain ridge or a rising cloud within the amorphous mass, and delight in following the twisting, undulating surface texture with their eyes. Transplanted from its original location where it was hewn by nature over thousands of years, a rock sitting on a hard-working scholar's desk can represent a whole world in miniature and allow the viewer's imagination to run.
Ying rocks are named after Yingde in central Guangdong province, where the earliest examples were found and harvested in caves. The “dimpled” irregular texture and glossy surfaces of Ying rocks is attributed to the action of water and many Ying rocks are said to have been formed as stalactites.
In his seminal text on Chinese scholar’s rocks, Worlds Within Worlds, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1997, p. 26, Mowry notes the high opinion accorded to Ying rocks by Ming artists and aesthetes, and mentions in his treatise Zhangwu zhi (On the things of the world) as one example: “…Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645) ranked them second among scholars’ rocks, trailing only those of Lingbi.”
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2016, lot 2934
Estimate: HKD 200,000 or approx. EUR 27,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A ying scholar’s rock, Ming-Qing dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related upright form and Ying rock with similar surface and mottled color.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 3151
Price: HKD 162,500 or approx. EUR 21,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A lingbi scholar’s rock
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form with similar perforations. Note the related size (49 cm).
China, c. 17th-18th century. Of columnar form with extensive perforations and concave surfaces throughout. The stone of an attractive mottled color variegating from charcoal toward the top over pale gray to a creamy beige near the bottom.
Provenance: From a private estate in New England, USA.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, few structural cracks, minor fissures, nicks, and scratches.
Weight: 6.6 kg (excl. base) and 7.5 kg (incl. base)
Dimensions: Height 54 cm (excl. base) and 65 cm (incl. base)
Mounted to a hardwood base. (2)
As far back as the Song Dynasty, naturally weathered rocks were collected and displayed for pleasure and by the 17th century individual rocks were important and respected enough to have portraits commissioned. Exceptional examples possess good shape, texture and color, and have resonance when struck. Given these qualities a viewer can admire the strength of outline, perhaps seeing a mountain ridge or a rising cloud within the amorphous mass, and delight in following the twisting, undulating surface texture with their eyes. Transplanted from its original location where it was hewn by nature over thousands of years, a rock sitting on a hard-working scholar's desk can represent a whole world in miniature and allow the viewer's imagination to run.
Ying rocks are named after Yingde in central Guangdong province, where the earliest examples were found and harvested in caves. The “dimpled” irregular texture and glossy surfaces of Ying rocks is attributed to the action of water and many Ying rocks are said to have been formed as stalactites.
In his seminal text on Chinese scholar’s rocks, Worlds Within Worlds, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1997, p. 26, Mowry notes the high opinion accorded to Ying rocks by Ming artists and aesthetes, and mentions in his treatise Zhangwu zhi (On the things of the world) as one example: “…Wen Zhenheng (1585-1645) ranked them second among scholars’ rocks, trailing only those of Lingbi.”
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4 April 2016, lot 2934
Estimate: HKD 200,000 or approx. EUR 27,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A ying scholar’s rock, Ming-Qing dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the related upright form and Ying rock with similar surface and mottled color.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 31 May 2017, lot 3151
Price: HKD 162,500 or approx. EUR 21,500 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A lingbi scholar’s rock
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form with similar perforations. Note the related size (49 cm).
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