Page 30 - Sotheby's London Important Chinese Art Nov. 2019

123
A CARNELIAN AGATE ‘FISHERMAN’ CARVING
QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY
carved in openwork and skilfully incorporating the white
part of the stone, depicting a crouching fisherman netting
a leaping fish
Length 6.5 cm, 2½ in.
£ 800-1,200
HK$ 7,900-11,800 US$ 1,000-1,500
清十九世紀 南紅瑪瑙漁公把件

123

124
AN OCTAGONAL REALGAR GLASS VASE
QIANLONG MARK AND PERIOD
the compressed bulbous body with eight facetted sides
rising to a long slender neck, supported on a tall foot
of conforming shape, the glass of opaque brilliant fiery
orange, yellow ochre colour swirled together resembling
the realgar mineral, the base with a wheel-cut four-
character reign mark within a double square
Height 14 cm, 5½ in.
In China, realgar is known as xionghuang, but is more
commonly referred to as wuguarang (dwarf melon flesh).
Zhou Jixu, a late Qing period connoisseur, described it
as the first such type to appear in the Palace Workshop
with its colouring containing blotches of red and yellow
arbitrarily pulled together. See Richard John Lynn,
‘Technical Aspects and Connoisseurship of Snuff
Bottles: Late Traditional Chinese Sources’, Journal of
the International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society, Summer,
1995, p. 8. For further discussion of realgar glass and its
possible imperial origins and dating, see Hugh Moss, Victor
Graham and Ka Bo Tsang, A Treasury of Chinese Snuff
Bottles, The Mary and George Bloch Collection, vol. 5, Hong
Kong, 2000, pp. 138-146, where the authors suggest that
it was the product of the court from the early 18th century
onwards and possibly a courtly prerogative or secret for
some decades

£ 8,000-12,000
HK$ 78,500-118,000 US$ 10,000-15,000
清乾隆 仿雄黃料八棱長頸瓶
《乾隆年製》款

124

Mark

28 Buyers are liable to pay both the hammer price (as estimated above) and the buyer’s premium together with any applicable taxes and Artist’s Resale Right (which will depend on the individual circumstances).
Refer to the Buying at Auction and VAT sections at the back of this catalogue for further information.