China Unknown
Unknown: Inkstone with Orchid Pavilion Inscription

stone
5.25 x 12 x 8 in.
2015.105
Gift of Stephen and Sophie Mathonnet-VanderWell

Inkstones serve both the utilitarian function of grinding ink and a larger artistic purpose. Through the precision and skill of their artists, inkstones became renowned objects of beauty rather than mere utilitarian tools. The act of grinding ink was an aesthetic experience for literati scholars. It stimulated the mind, inspiring them to create works of merit. Inkstones also allowed scholars to express their fine aesthetic taste.

The carving on this particular inkstone portrays Wang Xizhi’s gathering at the Orchid Pavilion, a popular Chinese tale. On April 22, 353 CE, Wang Xizhi, a famous calligrapher and artist, invited forty-one friends to his garden at the Orchid Pavilion. At Wang’s gathering, he initiated a drinking contest among his friends. They floated cups of rice wine down the creek and when a cup stopped, the man nearest had to empty it and write a poem. Wang Xizhi then collected all of those poems and created a preface for his scroll, “The Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion.” The inscription on the underside of the inkstone is the text of Wang’s preface.  

Gallery label text 2016
Ingrid Hofeldt
Carleton College
A Scholar’s Studio: Chinese Works from the Mathonnet Collection
October 28 – December 12, 2016
The students involved in curating this show come from two classes – Carleton Professor Kathleen Ryor’s Arts of China and St. Olaf Professor Karil Kucera’s Visual Culture in Modern China