时值清末，以竹木牙雕出名的苏州、扬州一带经济凋敝，而作为海上贸易重要港口的上海经济畸形发展，导致苏扬一带的竹木牙雕匠师纷纷涌入上海，促进了当地传统工艺美术的发展。于啸轩就是在这样的社会背景下迁居上海。他潜心研究苏州、上海的浅刻艺术历史及精华，注重交流切磋，还发展了前辈艺术，变“浅”为“微”，在“微”字上更有成就，创新出另一种浅刻艺术品——微型象牙插屏,成为上海牙雕的代表人物。这种象牙插屏多以直径二三寸的牙牌镌刻书画，再配以精致的红木插座，可以陈列于案头。它一出现即深受人们欢迎，争相订购收藏。

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于啸轩虽为一代艺术大师，却还是一个怪人。

“一怪”收入颇丰，却从不置家产，一家人靠租房居住。他在北京最早租住西单头条胡同钟姓住宅，很宽逸，后患病中止浅刻后，家庭经济条件每况愈下，上世纪50年代租居于宣武门附近的太平街，条件较差，卖掉了很多摆放不下的家具。

“二怪”文化修养颇高，却不让子女们上学。后来他的长孙于辛（又名马子卿，曾任新中国驻外大使）上了大学，接受到新的思想教育，动员祖父一定要改变做法，于硕这才让已14岁的三子宝朴从家乡来到北京上学。

“三怪”身为雕刻宗师，却不传艺于子女，而传艺给三婿陈景异和表侄李若虚，二人也都在国内以精湛的技艺和独特的风格享有盛名。在于硕的悉心指导下，陈景异继承了他的精髓，曾在芝麻粒大小的象牙上平刻孙中山先生的遗嘱，并在中山公园举办过作品展，亦是民国时期象牙微刻大师，晚年被聘为北京文史馆馆员，上世纪60年代去世。

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藏品尺寸：长：1cm 宽：1cm 高：3.7cm 重量：9g

此件象牙微雕作品为雕刻一代宗师于啸轩于其艺术巅峰时所作｛1931年｝，时年58岁。他的艺术生涯于1939年因病而终止，其时年仅66岁。1914、1915年于啸轩拿着他的两件作品，参加了日本东京大正博览会和美国的巴拿马太平洋国际展览会，两件作品都获得了金质奖章。两江总督端方偶然见到他于方寸牙牌上刻《道德经》全文，叹为稀世之珍，因而进呈慈禧太后。适荷兰女皇加冕，乃命于啸轩以方寸牙牌,一面刻荷兰女皇肖像，一面刻《金刚经》全部，派专使赍往，其名大著。汤时彬等人编写的《旧都文物略》一书，尊于啸轩为“当世第一单刀浅刻大师”。此件作品镌刻了明朝大诗人高启“梅花九首中的其一、其二两首”配背面的山水高士图，其诗画相配将诗情画意融为一体充分抒发了作者高远孤傲之情怀。其镌刻之诗文运刀如笔，笔划挺秀、波磔精严。其画则布局严谨、章法齐整、机趣鲜活，有无可言状之意境。作者对画的构思亦体现过人之处，对章两只独自成画，若拼接则为完整之山水高士图，若两边对调拼接仍为一完整之画卷。其画风韵高格古不愧当世第一单刀大师之称谓。该作品为极其珍稀之艺术精品，愿为有缘人藏之。

This is a micro-carving in ivory made by the generation of master, Yu Xiaoxuan, in his peak time (1931), when he was 58. His artist life was finished in 1939 due to disease when he was only 66. Yu Xiaoxuan brought two productions to join the Taizheng exposition in Tokyo of Japan and Panama Pacific international exposition in USA respectively in 1914 and 1915, and he achieved the gold awards for both of two productions. The Liang Jiang Governor Ruifang accidently saw his carved full text of Daodejing in a piece of jade wafer, sighed it was a rare treasure, and dedicated it to the Empress Dowager Cixi. It was just the crowned time for the queen of Netherlands, Yu xiaoxuan was asked to make a jade wafer with the queen’s portrait in one side and the full text of Daodejing in another side, which was sent to the queen by a special envoy, thus Yu Xiaoxuan became greatly famous, and he was praised to be the first artist for the intaglios with a single burin in the summary of cultural relic of the old capital written by Tang Shibin et al. It were carved in this production that the first and second of the nine poems for the plum by the famous poet Gao Qi in the Ming dynasty, with a painting of landscape and hermit in the reverse side, which combined the poetry and painting perfectly to show the author’s lofty and exclusive feeling. When the poems were carved the burin was used as a writing brush with tender and straight strokes, while the painting has a strict layout and ordered composition, with an indescribable meaning. The author had also a superhuman design for the painting to be composed of two independent parts, which are combined (positively or reversely) to be a complete painting of landscape and hermit. This is a really rare and valuable art treasure, which should be hopeful to be collected by a predestined person.