Lot 280
CHINESE WUCAI 'DRAGON AND PHOENIX' WARMING INKSTONE WITH COVER
WANLI MARK BUT QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY
Auction: 06 November 2026 from 10:00 GMT
Description
清 萬曆款 五彩龍鳳呈祥暖硯帶蓋
of circular form, painted on the cover with a pair of dragon and phoenix in flight amongst clouds and flames, repeated on the side of body, the cover opens up to reveal an unglazed concave section surrounded by a narrow well with an aperture, the counter-sunk base inscribed with a six-character Wanli mark in underglaze blue within a double-circle
Dimensions
12cm diameter
Provenance
Private Scottish collection, Isle of Skye
蘇格蘭私人收藏，天空島
Footnote
In northern China, where winters are extremely cold and water would freeze, warming inkstone was designed in a drum-shaped form with a hollow centre to hold warm water, thereby preventing the ink from freezing. See a related blue and white ‘dragon’ warming inkstone, Yuan dynasty, in the collection of S.H. Ho College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; also see a related black-ground susancai circular warming inkstone, early Qing dynasty, sold at China Guardian, 17 Oct 2024, lot 3004.