Juliette Hammer
Sale Coordinator
Lot 25
A SMALL BAMBOO GUQIN-SHAPED BOX AND COVER Signed Wang Heng, 18th/19th century
14 May 2025, 10:00 BST
London, New Bond Street£1,500 - £2,000
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Chen Xie
Specialist
Edward Luper
Specialist, Chinese Works of Art
Lazarus Halstead
Head of Chinese and Asian Art, London
A SMALL BAMBOO GUQIN-SHAPED BOX AND COVER
Signed Wang Heng, 18th/19th century
In the shape of a guqin with an elongated body, carved in low relief with seven strings and a brocade cloth wrapped around the body and adorned with incised scrolling lotus blossoms and foliage, the base carved with an inscription, the bamboo of honey brown tone.
8.7cm (3 3/8in) long. (2).
In the shape of a guqin with an elongated body, carved in low relief with seven strings and a brocade cloth wrapped around the body and adorned with incised scrolling lotus blossoms and foliage, the base carved with an inscription, the bamboo of honey brown tone.
8.7cm (3 3/8in) long. (2).
Footnotes
十八/十九世紀 竹雕琴式盒
「王恆」款
Wang Heng (王恆), styled Maolin (茂林), was a native of Jiading. He was a celebrated bamboo carver active during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing dynasty. Born into a distinguished family with a long-standing tradition of bamboo carving artistry, he carried on the legacy of excellence in this craft that had been upheld in Jiading for generations. According to Jin Yuan Yu's (?-1831, 金元钰) Bamboo Carvers' Record (竹人錄), he was skilled in carving small regular script. The inscription carved on the box reads:
但識琴中趣，何勞弦上音。王恆
Which may be translated as:
If one understands the essence within the qin, why concern oneself with the sound of its strings? Wang Heng
This remark is attributed to the renowned poet and recluse Tao Yuanming (365–427). According to the Book of Jin (晉書), compiled in 648, Tao Yuanming did not know how to play music, yet he kept a qin without strings. Whenever he drank, he would often hold the instrument and 'play' it as a means of expressing his emotions. His unconventional approach puzzled others, to which he famously replied, 'If one understands the essence within the qin, why concern oneself with the sound of its strings?'
See a related redwood guqin shaped box and cover, mid/late Qing dynasty, illustrated by G.Tsang and H.Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, p.226, pl.213.