Chinese Black Carved Ink Stone, Cloud Scroll Motif

Chinese carved ink stone of circular form, possibly Duan stone, with decoration in relief around top border near well of cloud scrolls. Marked to underside with five incised calligraphic marks. Accompanied with a square wooden box with green silk ties, box inscribed to interior of box base with painted calligraphic marks and two red seals or stamps, and with additional black painted calligraphic marks on verso of bottom panel. Ink stone approximately 4 3/4" in diameter, box approximately 5 3/4" square x 1 5/8" tall. Provenance: From the Estate of Mr. Soichi Furuta, Woodstock, Georgia. Note: Soichi Furuta (1927-2011) was a Renaissance Man of sorts, beginning his career in fine art arena. After attending UCLA, he joined a creative design and packaging firm in New York where he later became president. The firm (Stuart, Gunn & Furuta) was responsible for packaging design for a number of major brands including Michelob, Hershey's, Vicks, and Nestle. Concurrently, Mr. Furuta taught graduate-level courses in design at the City University in New York, later, he served as an adjunct professor of literature at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in North Carolina. Later in life, Furuta penned a dozen books in both English and Japanese with subjects ranging from poetry to translations and even a memoir. He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for his book of poetry, "Montefeltro the Hawk Nose" that references the artwork of the Italian painter Piero della Francesca. Soichi Furu Read more…