Page 60 - Important Chiense Ceramics and Works of Art, Christie's.pdf

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN
2912
A VERY RARE GILT AND HARDSTONE ᪺̗㡳 Ͳ㘍㛶㕺૔൷⊆ዠ㕺ดഢ㶢㶯㪂ᷴ
EMBELLISHED SOAPSTONE ‘QILIN’ CENSER
ϝᬝ
AND COVER
㲞ᳰ⼖༛ᬘ卿 ჺ ᝲ ᚚ卿ᐽ৅ ⽚
QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795)
The mythical beast is carved standing foursquare with its head ⮐㙽
raised, bearing a fierce expression with bulging eyes and mouth
Ƕ㲞ᳰ⼖༛ᬘӲࢦ㙉ჺǷ卿㲞ᳰ卿 ჺ卿㮰 卿எ‸
bared open to reveal its teeth and outstretched tongue. The cover
is carved in the form of a mallet and is decorated with archaistic
scrolls. The vessel is elaborately decorated overall with inlays
carved from hardstones in various vivid tones.
7 ¬ in. (19.5 cm.) high, box
HK$400,000-600,000 US$52,000-77,000

PROVENANCE
Sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 27 April 2003, lot 40

LITERATURE
Sotheby’s Thirty Years in Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2003, p. 353,
no. 416
The most remarkable aspect of the present lot is that it is
crafted in imitation of gilt-bronze vessels of the same form.
Gilt-bronze counterparts include: one formerly from the
Herbert R. Bishop Collection sold at Christie’s London, 15
June 1999, lot 105; one sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 30 April
2000, lot 564; one included by the National Palace Museum in
Gugong lidai xiangju tulu (Special Exhibition of Incense Burners
and Perfumers Throughout the Dynasties), Taipei, 1994, no.
119; and one in the British Museum, illustrated on the cover of
the Catalogue for the Collection of Oriental Antiquities, London
1989.

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