Description
Description: Chinese porcelain ink grinder decorated with a landscape in underglaze cobalt blue. The landscape is representing distant mountains, a lake, houses, rocks, with birds in the sky. What is particularly impressive of this ink stone is the extreme smoothing of the paste of the grinding area. We have never seen something similar; it is not possible to feel a difference between the glazed and the slippery unglazed area. It is so smooth that it is hard to think at it as a “grinder”, but the original staining is testimony of its functionality. There is an old restoration of a chip at the rim, which is made by a natural red lacquer; surely not made in the West.
Mark: The ink stone is bearing a well done, handwritten 8-characters mark, reading 官窑内造 in the right column, and 黄嗣美记 in the left one (Guan Yao Nei Zao, Huang Si Mei Ji) which means “Made in the official kiln” and “Mark of Huang Simei”. This mark is not recorded in the last release of Gerald Davison’s “Marks on Chinese Ceramics” book, the “Bible” of Chinese marks, and we have not found any other examples on the net.
Dating: The exact dating of this ink grinder is not easy; we think that about mid-19th century should be a confident dating.
Size: 12.3 cm diameter
Provenance: Antiquarian market
References:
Notes: The last three pictures are showing the ink grinder “as found”. The current discoloration of the ink staining is a consequence of years of use of the grinder as soap holder.
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