AN YIXING STONEWARE 'CICADA' INKSTONE BY CHEN HANWEN, QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD

modelled in the form of a cicada, the top with a circular area of depression for ink grinding and the reverse hollowed, impressed to the side with a square seal reading Chen Hanwen, the stoneware of a mottled olive-brown tone, Japanese wood cover

Brian Harkins Oriental Art Ltd, London, originally acquired in Japan.

good condition
"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."

Chen Hanwen, active in the 18th century, is said to have been the younger brother of Chen Mingyuan. Paul Moss discusses Chen Hanwen’s output in The Literati Mode, Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London, 1986, pp. 230-231, where he illustrates a dated lotus leaf-form brush washer bearing the mark of Chen Hanwen, no. 105. and a slip-decorated teapot by Chen bearing a Qianlong mark, now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and argues that Chen was active during the early Qianlong period. Chen’s work is notable for the use of archaistic motifs, evident in this inkstone, the box offered in this sale, lot 512, and in an archaistic bronze-imitation fangyi vessel with similar seal mark, sold in these rooms, 24th May 1978, lot 323, from the collection of Tan Jing, and now in the K.S. Lo collection, illustrated in K.S. Lo, The Stonewares of Yixing from the Ming Period to the Present Day, Hong Kong, 1986, pl. 161.

Another Yixing stoneware unmarked inkstone of chengni clay, similarly modelled in the form of a cicada, but attributed to the Ming dynasty, is illustrated in Simon Kwan, Chinese Inkstones, Hong Kong, 2005, pl. 89.