Page 142 - Sotheby's Fine Chinese Art November, 2018 Hong Kong.

522

A FINELY CARVED IVORY ‘HORSES OF MU 清十八至十九世紀 牙雕穆王八駿圖筆筒
WANG’ BRUSHPOT
QING DYNASTY, 18TH – 19TH CENTURY 來源：
傳莫士撝，倫敦
of cylindrical form, the exterior deftly carved in relief with eight 英國顯赫私人收藏
horses and five groomsmen in a riverside landscape set with
jagged rocks and knotted pine trees, four groomsmen hauling
horses by the river while another holds a bucket feeding a
horse, the ivory patinated to a warm honey tone, wood stand
16.8 cm, 6⅝ in.
PROVENANCE
Hugh Moss, London, by repute.
An eminent English collection.
◉ HK$ 100,000-150,000
US$ 12,800-19,200

In its outstanding use of three-dimensional modelling, the as demonstrated by its close composition arrangement and
present brushpot bears testament to Qing-dynasty ivory similar treatment to the tree bark with characteristic deep
carvers’ aspiration to parallel the naturalistic artisanship swirling knots and a scaled surface.
developed by renowned bamboo carvers from the Jiading The present ivory brushpot is fashioned with a sunken ground
School in the early 18th century.
where figural and landscape sections are modelled in the round
The scene depicts groomsmen attending to the legendary with undercutting, a technique noted by Wang Shixiang in
eight horses of Mu Wang. It is said that Mu Wang travelled Bamboo Carving in China, New York, 1983, p. 36, as originated
around his kingdom in a chariot drawn by eight mighty horses from bamboo artisans transferring their skills to the carving of
in search of the heavenly paradise. The eight horses were all ivory. An ivory brushpot depicting a scene of rural life rendered
given a distinctive name and were eventually liberated from in this technique, from the Irving collection, is included in Craig
their harnesses and let out to graze after many years of faithful Clunas, Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, London,
service to the king. 1984, pl. 176.
A bamboo brushpot depicting the same subject, dated to Compare also two ivory examples from the Simon Kwan
early Qing dynasty and now preserved in the Palace Museum, collection, attributed to the Qianlong-Jiaqing periods and
Beijing, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures sharing remarkable similarities in their figural modelling,
of the Palace Museum. Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros illustrated in Simon Kwan, Chinese Ivories from the Kwan
Horn Carving, Hong Kong, 2002, pl. 33, could be a prototype Collection, Hong Kong, 1990, pls 120 and 122.
or direct source of inspiration to the present ivory brushpot,

140 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比