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Details
- Other Title
- Inkstone with inscriptions by WANG Zhen and WU Changshuo
- Place where the work was made
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China
- Date
- late 19th century-early 20th century
- Media category
- Ceramic
- Materials used
- carved inkstone
- Dimensions
- 33.3 x 20.3 x 4.5 cm
- Credit
- Purchased 1989
- Location
- Not on display
- Accession number
- 59.1989
- Copyright
- Artist information
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SHEN Shiyou
Works in the collection
- Share
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About
This unusually large, fine, black inkstone has the added interest of the inscriptions on it and the provenance they imply. It is incised with an image of a kneeling Buddhist monk, which, the inscription suggests, is a self-portrait by the noted Buddhist and artist Wang Zhen (1867-1938), and a poem [upper left] by him which reads:
'In my previous life I was a monk.
Suddenly I came down to this human world,
The fragrant incense is not smoking, but already flowers appear in my vision,
where I can find the essence of Chan [Buddhism].'It is signed 'white dragon hermit' and dated 1912. The same inkstone also has two poems inscribed by Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), the principle one, on the face of the stone and adjacent to Wang's [upper right] is richly enigmatic:
'Jin Shoumen [Jin Nong] once said
I am in my heart a monk eating congxi [rice gruel]
Now I am going to use this title to give to you.
How about that?'Another inscription by Wu, on the side of the stone, states that it was carved by Shen Shiyou (1857-1917), a noted collector and inkstone carver who often worked with him.
The Asian Collections, AGNSW, 2003, pg.161.
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Places
Where the work was made
China
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Exhibition history
Shown in 3 exhibitions
Art of the brush, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 23 Sep 1995–12 Nov 1995
Beyond Words: Calligraphic Traditions of Asia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 27 Aug 2016–30 Apr 2017
Auspicious: Motifs in Chinese art, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney, Sydney, 16 Nov 2020–15 May 2022
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Bibliography
Referenced in 4 publications
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Edmund Capon, Orientations, 'Modern Chinese Paintings in the Art Gallery of New South Wales: The Shanghai School and its Impact', pg. 104-109, Hong Kong, Sep 2000, 107 (illus.). fig.5
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Jackie Menzies, Art of the Brush - Chinese & Japanese painting calligraphy, Sydney, 1995, 11.
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Jackie Menzies and Edmund Capon AM, OBE, Asian Collection Handbook, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Chinese Painting', pg. 42-52, Sydney, 1990, 47 (illus.).
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Jackie Menzies (Editor), The Asian Collections Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'The Scholar's Studio', Sydney, 2003, 161 (colour illus.).
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