Description
Description: A blue and white porcelain ink grinder of big size, decorated with a short poem and inscription all around. What we like of this ink grinder is that despite being it quite “rustic”, having coarse glaze and porcelain, and being the writing sloppy, it has the noble intention of encouraging students to aim to elevating themselves.
Unfortunately, besides being sloppy, the inscription is faded in some places and missed in other places due a damage, thus it was not possible to reach a full deciphering. One part of the inscription should be a four by seven crude poem rhymed on No.4 “hao” in pingshui rhyme system in Chinese poetry:
苍天岂可困英豪
苦读诗书志呈高
有朝一日皇榜动
那咱云梯万丈高
Which could be translated as:
“Even the heaven (fate) cannot confine the hero
By studying hard, you showed your ambition
One of these days, you will move into the imperial list
Then, we will have ladder to the clouds reaching thousands of feet”
Including what is legible of the rest, a further meaning could be:
“Studying hard with aspirations as high as the stars, one day the imperial examination notices will stir. Climbing the cloud ladder that reaches thousands of feet high, Scholars aspire to climb to the heights, reaching the Phoenix Pond. Scholars, please continue to strive forward, [the text becomes unclear here]”. Enduring the cold window for ten years with a smile, rare to become well-known under the heavens, even the most common can overcome the natural genius through hard work.”
In any case, it is clear the that the main scope of the inscription is that of encouraging to study, and that by means of hard work it will be possible to reach high results.
The ink grinder has a “fu” mark at the base.
Dating: Late Ming dynasty. The type of thick glaze and paste and overall style was pointing toward a late Ming dating in our experience. We become even more convinced after founding the reference ink grinder shown in the last two pictures, dated to Longqing, with the same thick, pitted glaze, the coarse paste full of void cavities, and same sloppiness
Size: 17 cm diameter
Provenance: Antiquarian market
References: The last two pictures are of an ink grinder recovered from a tomb dated 1568, Longqing, 2nd year.
Notes: We had the damage restored with a sort of Kintsugi style repair. Being the channel of the ink grinder stained with a mix of the red and black inks, resulting in a dark brick color, the same color was used for hiding the damage.
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