J.J. Lally & Co., Oriental Art / New York City, New York
MenuPast Exhibition
Chinese Art from the Scholar’s Studio
March 13 - April 11, 2015
52.
AN INSCRIBED LINGBI ROCK
17th - 18th Century
of rough arched form evoking a natural stone bridge or the entrance to a cave or grotto above water, the surface richly textured and with lustrous patina, inscribed with two characters: 拱璧, which may be read as “gong bi” and with an indecipherable seal, raised on a knobbly Jiangnan style hongmu stand.
10 1⁄2 x 4 x 6 1⁄8 inches (26.5 x 10 x 15.5 cm)
Lingbi rocks, associated with Lingbi county in Anhui province, have been highly prized since the Song dynasty. According to Hugh T. Scogin, Jr., ‘A Note on Lingbi’, Mowry et. al. Worlds Within Worlds, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1997, p. 48, a local Anhui gazetteer, writing during the Song period, reported that the name 靈璧 (Lingbi) “Spirit Stone”, was officially assigned by decree in A.D. 1117, and that “… Lingbi stone is treasured by all under heaven; its sound is like bronze and its color like the jade of bi disks… ”.
十七－十八世紀 《拱璧》 銘 靈璧石擺件 26.5 x 10 x 15.5 厘米
