Footnotes

• Provenance 來源:
  Private Japanese collection
  
  Ink rests are commonly found in scholars' studios, favoured by those who have attained the highest levels of literati taste. Appearing towards the late Ming dynasty, the bamboo carving industry flourished and matured under a stable and prosperous society. A more advanced and disciplined technique of bamboo carving developed by elite scholarly bamboo carvers prevailed at this period, which boast superior quality and excellent craftsmanship. By utilising the Jiading school 'deep-cut' technique, bamboo carvers of this new era were able to manipulate and work the best bamboo roots into masterpieces of various naturalistic shapes and textures. The current inkrest epitomises this ideal, and unlike its functional prototypes, is more of an object for scholarly contemplation.
  
  清早期 竹雕福壽雙全墨床
  
  取竹子地下莖雕成。床身弧形，兩端成捲軸式，邊緣微卷，上圓雕一蝙蝠，其口銜一桃枝，枝上結兩壽桃，寓意「福壽雙全」，其餘部分浮雕樹葉及枝幹肌理，雕琢細膩生動。
  
  墨床是文房用具和書齋雅玩中常見之物，明代後期，基於平穩繁榮大環境下的竹雕工藝已經發展成熟，而文人竹雕藝術則更上升至高峰。以「深雕」工藝著名的嘉定派採用形態各異、巨細懸殊的竹根，拈手而來，因材造境，順勢成形，略施數刀即可刻竹成金。而在文人竹雕中，亦有一些已不具備使用功能的文人玩賞器具。許多雕刻精美的文房器具，雖然還保留有其功能性一面的形制，然已不過是借題發揮，其初衷則為供玩賞，正所謂之「清供雅玩」也，此竹雕墨床可為一例。

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Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art

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