Page 46 - Bonhams Chinese Works of Art December 2014
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PROPERTY FROM A CALIFORNIA INSTITUTION PROPERTY FROM THE EMMANUEL GRAN FAMILY COLLECTION
2104 2108
A CARVED ROCK CRYSTAL FIGURE OF GUANYIN A GROUP OF SIX SMALL JADE CARVINGS
Late Qing/Republic period 18th century and later
The Goddess of Mercy carved standing with her hair falling in two knots
over the sloping shoulders, the hands clasped in front of the chest and Including a seated horse (chipped); a carp-shaped toggle (chip); the
holding a rosary, the long layered robe flowing out to the side. third an ingot-shaped paperweight (chip); the fourth a handscroll
13 1/2in (34.3cm) high fastener carved as a belt hook with dragon head; the fifth a mottled
$4,000 - 6,000 jadeite hairpin of curving shape; the last a mottled jadeite toroid ring.
Provenance 3 3/4in (9.5cm) length of hairpin
acquired in 1966 as per acquisition number 1966.404 1 1/4in (3.1cm) diameter of toroid ring
$2,000 - 3,000
PROPERTY FROM ANOTHER OWNER 2109
A GROUP OF THREE CARVED JADE DECORATIONS
2105 18th/19th century
A PAIR OF CELADON JADE INCENSE HOLDERS WITH The first an oval-shaped libation cup with archaistic double-ear
SPINACH JADE STANDS AND COVERS handles, leiwen bands incised along the front of each handle and
Each cylindrical tube of pale gray-green hue carved in high relief and below the rim, the recessed base carved with two characters
perforated in places with mirror images of two scholars walking amid reading zhi bao; the second an oval-sectioned brush pot carved
dense vegetation on a mountain pathway dotted with pavilions and in high relief with a phoenix, bamboo branches and faceted rocks
pagodas; each domed cover and reticulated six-footed stand separately (minor chips); the third a reticulated plaque of three intersecting
carved from well-matched pieces of mottled dark green jade. circles with butterflies facing the character xi, the plaque now set
11 1/2in (29.2cm) high into the cover of a hardwood box.
$8,000 - 12,000 3in (7.6cm) height of brush pot
3 7/8in (9.8cm) length of reticulated plaque
PROPERTY FROM THE LOUIS AND EVELYNE BLAU $1,000 - 1,500
COLLECTION
PROPERTY FROM VARIOUS OWNERS
2106
A SOAPSTONE CARVING DEPICTING LAN CAIHE 2110
Late Qing/Republic period A NEPHRITE ARCHAISTIC MYTHICAL BEAST AND
One of the Eight Immortals, shown holding a basket of flowers in one LINGZHI GROUP
hand and a bamboo pole scythe in the other while standing between Possibly a qilin, depicted recumbent and grasping in its mouth a
a boy attendant with a peach and the crane of longevity (tiny chips, branch of lingzhi fungus that extends across its back, its horns and
repairs); now mounted within a gilt-finished electric lamp base. ears flattened against its head, accompanied by a pup that turns its
10 1/2in (26.6cm) height of soapstone head affectionately towards the elder; of translucent gray-green hue
$1,000 - 2,000 with a pale russet fissure line to the bifurcated tail and another pale
white fissure line to the snout.
PROPERTY FROM A BAY AREA FAMILY COLLECTION 5 1/2in (13.9cm) long
$3,000 - 4,000
2107
AN IMPRESSIVE LARGE SPINACH JADE BOULDER Purchased
18th/19th century Bonhams & Butterfields, San Francisco, sale 20037, 2 October
Of vertical profile, the massive ovoid form boulder skillfully and 2012, lot 1363
extensively carved with a continuous scene depicting a remote
mountainous setting for scholar viewing the scenery while seated
in an open hut by a cliff surrounded by pine and wutong trees,
another bearded figure crossing a bridge above a meandering river
and the reverse exhibiting an auspicious deer running towards a
pine and a crane in flight; the olive toned green matrix cast with
patches of russet inclusions.
15 1/2in (39.4cm) high
$15,000 - 25,000
Among jade carvings, carved boulders represent a landscape
microcosm where the owner can visualize meandering through its
paths and sitting in its pavilions to contemplate nature. This example
is an unusually large and finely executed carving for its date. The high
relief and undercutting of details can be related to carvings of the
Qianlong period, as exhibited by the imperial spinach green jade ‘tiger
hunt’ plaque and the inscribed spinach jade ‘Xianglu Feng’ brush pot
from the Harold E. Stack collection, sold in Bonhams, Hong Kong, 24
November 2012, lots 204 and 208. See also a comparable celadon
jade boulder of slightly smaller size illustrated in Robert Kleiner,
Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman Hong
Kong, 1996, plate 128.
44 | BONHAMS
