A SOAPSTONE 'SAMPAN BELOW CLIFFS' SEAL 19th century The rectangular stone exquisitely carved as a sampan with basket-weave cover and conveying a large jar, piloted by a man with a long rudder atop a strong current with finely incised waves, all beneath an overhanging cliff with gnarled tree, the side inscribed, and the seal face reading Meng Yan xin shang. 8.5cm (3 2/8in) high. Footnotes: 十九世紀 壽山石印章 印文：孟延心賞 邊款：安知非人之譖愬 Provenance: Robert Kleiner Ltd., London Trudy and John Cohen, collection no.H17 來源：倫敦古董商Robert Kleiner Ltd. Trudy及John Cohen伉儷，藏品編號H17 The inscription on the seal face reads 孟延心賞 (Meng Yan xin shang) which may be translated as 'for Meng Yan's heartfelt appreciation.' The side inscription to the side reads 安知非人之譖愬 (Anzhi fei ren zhi zensu) which may be translated as 'how can one know that it was not the slanderous accusation by others.' The phrase is drawn from Master Zhu's Family Instructions (朱子家訓). This soapstone seal, carved with a lone sampan drifting beneath towering cliffs, may allude to the famed Red Cliffs prose-poems by Su Dongpo (1037-1101). Written after his political exile, these texts recount a boat excursion along the Yangtze river, where the poet reflects on the transience of life against the vastness of nature, an enduring theme that made the Red Cliffs outing one of the most celebrated meditations in Chinese literary and artistic tradition. Compare with a related tianhuang stone seal carved with the Red Cliffs, Qing dynasty, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Small Refined Articles of the Study, Shenzhen, 2009, p.254, no.249. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing