明十六世紀末 沈香木雕靈芝瑞獸如意 |

Brian Harkins Oriental Art，倫敦

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我們很高興為您提供上述拍品狀況報告。由於敝公司非專業修復人員，在此敦促您向其他專業修復人員索取諮詢，以獲得更詳盡、專業之報告。

準買家應該檢查每款拍品以確認其狀況，蘇富比所作的任何陳述均為專業主觀看法而非事實陳述。準買家應參考有關該拍賣的重要通知（見圖錄）。

雖然本狀況報告或有針對某拍品之討論，但所有拍賣品均根據印於圖錄內之業務規則以拍賣時狀況出售。

Ruyi sceptres made of the treasured chenxiangmu are extremely rare as the wood is brittle and thus difficult to carve. The present piece is outstanding for the level of detail and three-dimensionality the carver has managed to achieve. Chenxiangmu, also known as eaglewood or aloeswood, is one of the most valued types of wood in China due to its aromatic and medicinal qualities. It is formed in response to a parasitic mould infection, which causes the pale and odourless heartwood of aquilaria trees to produce a dark aromatic resin (aloes) that infuses the wood, resulting in this dense, dark and scented version. According to Sheila Riddell in Dated Chinese Antiquities 600-1650, London, 1979, p. 228, the best quality wood was sourced from modern-day Cambodia, according to Chau Ju-Kua, the renowned 12th century traveller.

Chenxiangmu was used for the production of scholarly objects, the appeal of the wood lying in both the beauty of the raw material as well as the elegant and unrestrained forms in which they were carved. Often fashioned into naturalistic forms, this style of decoration was a sophisticated play on the nature of the wood itself while highlighting the momentary nature of life. Due to its hard and fragile properties, chenxiangmu objects are vulnerable to cracking and generally formed by piecing together several small segments. Thus, the present sceptre is a rare extant example from the Ming dynasty which is particularly notable for its well-preserved condition. A smaller ruyi sceptre, but carved in simulation of a lingzhi head and attributed to the eighteenth century, was sold in these rooms, 8th April 2010, lot 1974; and another fashioned with finger citrons on the head, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th November 2012, lot 2388.

Additional chenxiangmu objects for the scholar’s table include a brushrest published in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, pl. 199; three small libation cups included in Bo Gyllensvard, 'Two Yuan Silver Cups and Their Importance for Dating of Some Carvings in Wood and Rhinoceros Horn', Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm, 1971, no. 43, pp. 223-233; another, from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat collection, sold in these rooms, 8th October 2010, lot 2223; an incense holder sold in our New York rooms, 19th March 2007, lot 703, from the Albright Knox Art gallery, Buffalo, New York; and a carving of scholars within a boulder, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in Jiangxin yu xiangong Ming Qing diaoke zhan. Zhu mu guohe pian/Uncanny Ingenuity and Celestial Feats: The Carvings of Ming and Qing Dynasties: The Art of Bamboo, Wood and Fruit Stones, Taipei, 2009, pl. 26.