A 'DUAN' STONE WASHER QING DYNASTY, 18TH / 19TH CENTURY

the stone of a brownish-grey tone characteristically mottled with spots of olive green, modelled as a lotus leaf with a lobed incurved rim, deftly carved in relief with ten crabs of various sizes amongst reeds with a couple clambering over the rim, while four cluster in the centre, and three others seek shelter under the lobed rim, each of their shells naturally highlighted in pale green, the underside decorated with a clamshell and a conch shell, together with the stem of the leaf forming the feet of the washer, zitan wood box and cover, the cover incised with a crab, between two inscriptions in cursive script reading Xiumu Guangdong Chen Xiao ('Xiumu, Chen Xiao of Guangdong'), and Hengxing zizai (‘Walking sideways naturally and at ease’)

The duan inkstone is overall in quite good condition with only a tiny nick to the edge of one lobe near the crab on the left side (showing on the illustration in the catalogue), some light pitting below the rim edge on the underside and expected surface wear on the feet. The actual colour is slightly darker than on the catalogue photo. The wood box and cover are also in good condition with very light surface scratches and one or two tiny nicks along the cover rim and the inside rim of the box.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present imaginatively fashioned and delicately carved brushwasher is a fine example of objects made for the scholar’s table during the Qing dynasty. It is unusual to find small washers in the form of a lotus leaf to be boxed in zitan suggesting that its maker may have been a carver of Duan inkstones that are often packaged in this manner. The imagery of lotus and crab is full of auspicious symbolism; the lotus (he) and crab (xie) together form the pun for the word ‘harmony’ (hexie), while the crab grabbing a blade of reed is a pictorial pun for the saying ‘huangjia chuan lu’ that entails a species of large crab whose name (huangjia) is the same as the term for top graduates who successfully pass the metropolitan examination combined with the word used for calling out their names (chuan lu).

For comparable washers see one included in Bunbō shihō [Four treasures of the study], series no. 7, p. 118, lower illustration; and another carved with dragons, clouds and a crab included in the exhibition Three Decades of Acquisitions, The Art Gallery, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2001, cat. no. 63, where the stone is noted to be from the Kengzaiyan quarry at Duanxi, Guangdong province. Compare also a washer decorated with crabs, made of similar brownish-grey limestone as the present piece, published in Biece, no. 7, Sumi (Ink), 5th October 1987, p. 118; and a songhuashi inkstone of related form, carved into a lotus leaf with a single crab resting on top, published in Simon Kwan, Chinese Inkstones, Hong Kong, 2005, p. 290, pl. 107.

Chen Xiao of Guangdong remains unidentified.