MING DYNASTY (1368-1644)
LENGTH: 48CM
The resonant, dark grey limestone has a horizontal composition formed from
five jagged peaks with a slight lean to the right, The wrinkled surface of the grey
rock is with characteristic pitting and white veining. The rock is supported on a
double-tiered Suzhou-style hongmu stand.
The upper section of the right side of the rock has the characters Meihe 梅壑
(“Prunus Valley”) carved in archaistic script next to a dated inscription reading
Kangxi guiyou qiu Xin’an Cha Shibiao 康熙癸酉秋新安查士標 (“Autumn of the
guiyou year in the Kangxi period [2 August-28 October 1693], [signed] Cha
Shibiao of Xin’an”), followed by a rectangular seal reading Erzhan 二瞻.
The early Qing dynasty painter Cha Shibiao 查士標 (1615-1698), also known in
his personal name Erzhan 二瞻, was a native of Xin’an 新安 (present-day Xiuning
休寧, Xi county 歙縣 , Anhui). Meihe sanren 梅壑散人 (“Useless Fellow of Prunus
Valley”) is the sobriquet of Cha Shibiao 查士標.
On one side close to the bottom of the rock read the two characters Chayun
槎雲 (‘Hewn Cloud’), followed by a dated inscription in running script reading:
| 元時遺物 | Relic from the Yuan Dynasty |
| 嵗在丁酉夏 | Summer of the dingyou year [5 May-31 July 1837] |
| 嘉興張廷濟 | Zhang Tingji of Jiaxing (Zhejiang) followed by a seal facsimile reading Zhang Shuwei 張叔未 |
From the Jiaxing fuzhi 嘉興府志 (Jiaxing [Zhejiang] Prefecture Gazeteer): Zhang Tingji, personal name Shuwei 叔未, studio name “Sea Marchmount Hermitage’’ ( 海嶽庵 Haiyue an ); late in life his [calligraphy] disciples called him “Long Eyebrows Longevity Old Man” ( 眉壽老人 Meishou laoren ). As a younger man, he attained first place in the [Zhejiang] provincial examination in the third year of Jiaqing period [1798]. Although learned and a successful degree candidate, he has never served in office. As an eminent calligrapher, he emulated Mi Nangong 米南宮 [Mi Fu 米芾 (1051-1107)], and his cursive script was considered the best of his time.
The reverse of the rock bears another signed inscription on the lower right reading:
| 余自京得此石 | I obtained this rock in the capital. |
| 上有舊銘槎雲二字懶老所書。 | On it is an old inscription, the two characters Chayun (“Hewn Cloud”) were inscribed by Lanlao |
| 伏案對此甚愛之。 | Bending over my desk and facing it, I find I am very fond of it. |
| 民國卅年吳華源記。 | 30th year of the Republic period [1941], Wu Huayuan. |
Wu Huayuan 吳華源 (1893-1972) was a prominent painter and calligrapher in the 20th century. The capital of his time in 1941 would have been Nanjing. Lanlao (“Lazy and Old”) is the sobriquet of the early Qing dynasty painter Cha Shibiao 查士標 (1615-1698).
PROVENANCE
A Japanese Private Collection
| 明代 | 灰靈璧石「槎雲」山子 |
| 「康熙癸酉秋新安查士標」 | |
| 「嘉興張廷濟」款 |
