Name

Salmon of Knowledge Yan.

Date

2016

Stone Source and Type

Direct from quarry (Tillymorgan) Macduff slate ‘jade’ overlay layer cut from same stone block as ‘Wave Strikes Rock’ yan

Description.

The green top layer carved with Salmon, the frame can be read as eddies in the pool or a more abstract fish, cut through to purple grey ink pool also with ‘jade patches’ suggesting weed with slight water pool at top. Fine texture.

Mineral Patterns.

‘jade’ layer and ‘jade’ splashes

Other info

"The Salmon of Knowledge, yan". I am playing at mixing Celtic imagery with an oriental class of object. "The Salmon of Knowledge" seemed an appropriate symbol for the context of a scholar's inkstone.  My search for Scottish stones with properties like the Chinese Duan Inkstone(端硯 )from Guangdong Province and other such famous Chinese inkstone sources continues. I have found this strata with a glossy green layer over darker stone (allowing for a cameo technique) surfaced at a couple of locations but very localised. It is can also be hard to find sound stuff in the old quarry spoil.

The Story

Gin ye dinna ken it, the story in brief: Salmon eats hazelnuts of wisdom thus it contains all knowledge, the orphan Fionn McCumhaill (Finn MacCool) and brought up in the wilderness to hide from his dead father's enemies in the traditional manner, who would kill him if found, becomes acolyte of the poet Finnegas; the whom is the wisest man in Ireland who lived by a rock pool (Well of Wisdom aka Tobar Segais)on River Boyne. Finnegas had been there, patiently looking for the Salmon of Knowledge for seven years (in some versions because it was predestined to be caught by someone with a similar Finnie sounding name). Finnegas eventually catches said salmon asks Finn to cook it carefully without letting it blister but not to eat any of it, fish skin blisters, Finn pushes it down, burns finger on fat, puts finger in mouth becomes super enlightened. Finnegas stoically accepts a fait accompli and tells the know-all brat to eat the rest of salmon then piss off and become a mythical hero.

Dimensions in centimetres

Length, 26  Width, 13  Depth, 2.5