A large duan stone 'carp leaping the dragon gate' screen


Qing Dynasty The finely carved rectangular duan plaque depicting a carp jumping through a gate amidst waves and rocks, beneath a dragon in the clouds chasing a pearl, fitted wood stand carved with ruyi scrolls.27cm (10 5/8in) wide x 30cm (11 4/5in) long. (2).
|清 端石鯉魚躍龍門硯屏Provenance: a distinguished English private collection來源：顯貴英國私人收藏The theme of carp and dragons, as in the present lot, originates from a legend that a carp which could leap the falls of the Yellow River at Dragon Gate would be transformed into a dragon. The motif thus became synonymous with hopes for success or victory. Duan stone was produced in Guangdong Province, and got its name from Duan Prefecture. With the lifting of Imperial control over the choicest of Duan quarries in the early Qing dynasty, a flurry of private mining activities ensued in the 18th century and the stone become more available and popular to scholars and gentry into the late Qing for use as ink stones and also table screens; see D.Ko, The Social Life of Inkstones: Artisans and Scholars in Early Qing China, Seattle, 2017, pp.58-61.