Footnotes

• 清初 壽山芙蓉石雕笑獅羅漢坐像 陰刻「子秀」篆書款
  
  Provenance來源:
  Spink & Son Ltd., London, 21 December 1981
  Hugh M. Moss Ltd, 29 September 1989
  
  The signature Zixiu appears on a small number of outstanding soapstone figural sculptures. Little is known of the historical figure, who is not mentioned in the texts where Zhou Bin and Yang Yuxuan are recorded, despite the fact that his carvings are all of comparable, superlative quality. The skill exhibited by Zixiu in incorporating the natural variation of colour in the stone into different areas of carved decoration on the current sculpture is extraordinary: a patch of russet-brown is incorporated into the head and tail of the lion, and a black streak into the rockwork.
  
  As Gerald Tsang and Hugh Moss point out in Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, p.160, it is possible that Zixiu 'is an art name for one of several carvers recorded in literature but whose signatures do not seem to appear on works of art'. It may also be possible that Zixiu 'did not carve seal texts and therefore did not attract the attention of the literati to the same extent as Zhou and Yang'.
  
  
  此坐像石質通靈瑩潔，主色是乳白中帶點微黃。羅漢面相悠然恬靜，左手執如意，右手弄獅為樂，身軀依著石頭安坐，身穿薄衣帶花卉紋花邊，並嵌有寶石，背部刻「子秀」篆書款。雕工獨到之處，在於雕刻家善於利用芙蓉石中多色交錯的特質，利用原石中的朱紅色作獅子的頭與尾巴部分，又利用石中赭黑色部份作石，如此匠心妙韻，不但為雕像帶來生氣，更使人聯想到玉雕中巧色帶皮之法。
  
  壽山石雕刻史中沒有「子秀」的記載，正如Gerald Tsang 及Hugh Moss在Arts from the Scholar's Studio一書指出，「子秀或許是某刻印家的另一名字，專門用於雕人物之中。」又或是，因為雕刻家如「子秀」並不刻印章，因此在中國傳統藝術裡，並未能與主流藝術──文人藝術接軌，因此沒有此記錄。
  
  Other recorded figural carvings by Zixiu, in addition to lot 261, include:
  除本專拍中編號261之外，其他刻有「子秀」款的例子包括：
  
  - a meditating luohan (14.7cm) carved from greenish-grey stone, illustrated ibid, pg. 162, pl.136 (fig.1);
  
  - the lion-subduer luohan (6.1cm high) carved from russet-red stone, illustrated ibid, pg.160, pl.135 (fig.2);
  
  - Dongfang Shuo (13.4cm), carved from brown and ochre stone, formerly in the Marcel Lorber collection, London, and Mary and George Bloch collection, Hong Kong, illustrated by Paul Moss, Between Heaven and Earth. Secular and Divine Figural Images in Chinese Paintings and Objects, London: Sydney L. Moss Ltd., 1988, no.62 (fig.3);
  
  - Avalokitesvara (28.5cm high, including stand), carved from opaque beige stone, illustrated by Paul Moss, Between Heaven and Earth. Secular and Divine Figural Images in Chinese Paintings and Objects, London: Sydney L. Moss Ltd., 1988, no. 61 (fig.4);
  
  - Budai (7.3cm high), carved from creamy-white stone, formerly in the collection of Patrick Huth Jackson, illustrated by Maria Kiang, Objects from the Scholar's Desk, Hong Kong, 2009, pp. 54-55, no. 19 (fig.5);
  
  - the lion-subduer luohan (9.9cm high), carved from cream and russet stone, formerly in the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat Collection, sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 8 October 2010, lot 2209;
  
  - a meditating luohan (9.9cm) carved from mahogany-red and grey stone, purchased from Sydney L. Moss Ltd, London, October 2001;
  
  - a figure of Wenshu on a lion (9.2cm) carved from cream and beige stone, recorded in the Dr Ip Yee collection, Hong Kong, 1977, illustrated on www.e-yaji.com, pl. 1.5.4;
  
  - a figure of a luohan, carved from dark grey stone, formerly in the Mary and George Bloch collection, Hong Kong, illustrated on www.e-yaji.com, pl. 1.5.9.

---

Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

---

Auction terms and conditions