Vintage Chinese Lidded Carved Calligraphy Inkstone Turtle

Vintage Chinese calligraphy inkstone carved in the form of Bixi, the mythical dragon-headed turtle of legend. The lidded vessel once held water and ground ink in a scholar's studio, protected from drying by its fitted top. The shell is rendered with geometric precision, its carapace plates echoing the sacred Bagua—the Eight Trigrams mapping cosmic order. At its centre, carved in ancient Seal Script, sits the character for Longevity (寿 - Shou), a symbol of continuous vitality and good fortune drawn in the symmetrical style reserved for imperial and scholarly art. The stone displays the coveted deep gray-black tone with subtle gold and mineral flecking characteristic of the finest Duan or She stone. A quality piece with but underneath the top lid and underneath the base is very scratched from use