8th century
Length 14.7cm, Width 13.5cm, Green thickness 0.5cm, Depth of the sea 1.6cm
Shosoin
The inkstone itself is a common Sue ware style inkstone, and is not a special work. It was probably delivered to the Shosoin along with medicine jars and other items. The inkstone is embedded in a base of bluespotted (serpentine) stone, so the condition of the base and legs cannot be determined.
The rounded head and the wide, eight-shaped opening at the bottom, with a half-moon partition at the border between land and sea, make this inkstone one of the oldest examples of the Fuji inkstone series. The base of the inkstone is made of four pieces of blue-plated stone combined into a regular hexagonal shape, which is then inserted into a regular hexagonal wooden base.
There are two basic types of Sue ware inkstones: round-faced inkstones and wind-lettered inkstones. In the late Nara and early Heian periods, a shift took place between the two types of inkstones, and special types such as hoshu inkstones and bird-shaped inkstones were produced. If this is the case, then the Shosoin wind-lettered inkstone is the oldest known wind-lettered inkstone, but the date of its production requires further study.
