OBJECTS FOR THE SCHOLAR'S DESK, Hong Kong 2009
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Scholar's Implements

CATALOGUE 2009

A SOAPSTONE SEAL

QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY

HEIGHT: 5.3CM

The well-patinated furong soapstone seal is rectangular in shape, its knop carved in openwork with two bifid lions playfully biting a scrolling lingzhi. The seal face is inscribed with the four characters ‘zhaoxue shuwu’ 澡雪書屋in intaglio, which can be translated as ‘Pure as New Snow Studio,’ an excerpt from Zhuangzi 莊子, Chapter 22:

老聃曰:汝齋戒,疏將而心,澡雪而精神,掊擊而知!夫道,窅然難言哉!將為汝言其崖略。

Lao Dan [Laozi] said, ‘You must fast and cleanse your mind, make your essential spirit as pure as new snow, and destroy your knowledge! The Dao is so profound and farreaching it is impossible to talk about, but I shall try to give you a rough outline of it.’

清中期芙蓉壽山石雙獅印 《澡雪書屋》款