Chinese Antique Hand Carved Dragon "Duan" Ink Ston

Description

A stunningly beautiful vintage Chinese Ink Stone, featuring a hand-carved traditional dragon motif.
In traditional Chinese culture, the art of writing is essential to education and scholarly success. Exemplary of this reverence toward calligraphy is the reference to the creation of brushes, ink, ink stones, and paper as the “four treasures of the study” in literature dating back to 420 A.D. Ink stones in particular were considered the most important and even the very soul of a scholar.
Ink stones, originally created in the Han dynasty, emerged with the creation of ink sticks. Chinese paintings and calligraphy, either on paper or silk, are generally produced with a water-based ink created from grinding the ink with a stone and water. Ink stones are usually made of fine-grained whetstone like slate, but can also be created out of ceramic and other coarse materials. During the Tang and Song dynasties, the ink stone became more than just a utilitarian object – it was an important work of art.
Ink stones are decorated with images of scholars or references to famous literary works in order to inspire intellectuals. They are revered for the manner in which the stone collaborates with the ink-stick and water to create the perfect ink texture.