Footnotes

• 清初 壽山白芙蓉石雕彌勒佛臥像 陰刻「尚均」八分書款
  
  Provenance來源:
  The Oriental Art Gallery Ltd., London, 1993
  
  Illustrated出版:
  The Oriental Art Gallery Ltd., Oriental Works of Art, London, 1993, no. 138
  
  As discussed by Gerald Tsang and Hugh Moss, ibid, pg. 84-86, Shangjun is the 'zi' name for Zhou Bin, a native of Zhangzhou in Fujian, historically renowned as the most accomplished of all the known soapstone carvers. Little is known of his exact dates, but it is clear that his craftsmanship was appreciated by the scholar class, and that he expressed himself within their aesthetic. Throughout the Qing period, he was admired, as can be seen from an inscription on a Zhou Bin seal by the late Qing painter Wu Changshuo (1844-1927), 'This stone was carved by Zhou Shangjun, we should especially treasure it'.
  
  In his definitive work on soapstone, Shoushanshi zhi (Records of Shoushan Stone), Fujian, 1982, Fang Zonggui expounds that Zhou Bin's work encapsulated the technique of 'xieyi', the thin, low-relief, painterly style of carving. 'Xieyi' literally translates as 'idea painting', but in literati eyes, through its association with a free, expressionist style, it transcended the medium of sculpture and became associated with the higher art of painting, thereby assuming the potential for profundity. Rather than focusing on the sheer technical skill that is evident in the current sculpture, Fang refers to Zhou Bin's work as being in a simple and rustic style, a compliment reserved for the highest levels of literati painting and calligraphy. Fundamentally, in the eyes of the literati class, the important impression from a masterpiece of Zhou Bin, such as the current sculpture, is not the quality of the carving, but of the meaning conveyed through the profundity of his expression.
  
  Only a small number of figural sculptures by Zhou Bin are recorded in museum and private collections, of which the current lot is arguably one of the finest. The furong stone is an exquisite colour; the carving is strong and supple, with extraordinary sensitive and naturalistic details; the incised designs on the textiles are superb in their execution.
  
  
  卧佛石質純粹細嫩，豐光澤，彌勒佛面相圓潤，雙目微合帶笑，和藹可親。雙手交疊壓在布包上，布包刻金線錦地夔龍團圈紋，側臥曲膝，足穿草鞋，悠然自得。身穿袈裟刻有纏枝蓮花紋花邊，背刻「尚均」八分書款，以簡單幾刀交代出袈裟紋理，也交代出人物結構，自然流暢。蒲團正面刻金線纏枝卷草紋，背面則刻有丹鳳並輔以夔龍紋邊。與北京故宮博物院藏品相比(fig.1)，兩者在衣褶刻劃，以及人物神態上，皆渾厚古樸，如出一轍。
  
  在壽山石藝術中，能與楊玉璇齊名的，可說是周尚均。周彬，字尚均，清康熙人，籍貫福建省漳州，擅長印鈕雕刻，有「尚均鈕」之稱。其作品常得文人歡喜，清徐子晉《前塵夢影錄》便有云：「印製鈕以尚均製作為第一。」，晚清海上派畫家吳昌碩(1844-1927)曾有周彬刻印一方，並刻上邊款，珍而重之。
  
  All the known figural carvings by Zhou Bin are clearly individual works of art, sharing certain qualities of expression, incised designs on the robe and style of carving, but fundamentally different from each other. These include:
  
  其他刻有「尚均」或「周彬」款的壽山石雕例子如下:
  
  - a tianhuang figure of Maitreya in the Palace Museum, Beijing (13.5cm long), inscribed 'shangjun', illustrated by Yang Boda, Zhongguo Meishu Quanji. Diaosu Bian 6 Yuan Ming Qing Diaosu, 1988, pg. 145, pl. 158 (fig.1);
  
  - a luohan (10.1cm high.), carved from creamy-beige stone, in the National Museum of History, Beijing, signed Zhou Bin, illustrated in Zhongguo wenwu jinghua daquan: Jin yin yu shi juan, Hong Kong, 1994, pg. 83, pl.242 (fig.2);
  
  - a luohan (11.1cm) carved from mottled grey stone, depicted seated gazing at his open hand, illustrated by Tsang and Moss, ibid, pg. 86, pl. 44, inscribed 'Gumin Zhoubin Shangjun shi zhi' ('Made by Zhou Bin, Shangjun of Gumin' (fig.3);
  
  - the lion-subduing luohan, carved from tianhuang, illustrated in Exquisite Chinese Artifacts, Collection of Ching Wan Society, National Museum of History, Taipei, 1995, pl.191 (fig. 4);
  
  - Avalokitesvara and acolyte (10.5cm), illustrated by Sydney Moss Ltd., The Literati Mode. Chinese Scholar Paintings, Calligraphy and Desk Objects, London, 1986, pl. 84 (fig.5);
  
  -a luohan (9cm high), sold at Sotheby's New York, The Arts of Buddha, 22 September 2004, lot 50, inscribed 'shangjun', illustrated on www.e-yaji.com, pl. 1.4.13;
  
  -a meditating monk, inscribed 'shangjun', illustrated on www.e-yaji.com, pl. 1.4.14.;
  
  - a luohan (10.4cm high) with miniature lion, formerly in the collection of R. Foster Reynolds, Providence, R.I., sold at Sotheby's New York, 25 February 1983, lot 194, inscribed Zhou Bin;
  
  - other figures by Zhou Bin, sold at Sotheby's London, 12 November 1974, lot 89; Sotheby's New York, 31 March 2005, lot 202, and 22 September 2005, lot 60.

Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art