Page 401 - Bonhams Chinese Art London May 2013
P. 401
366 Y This unusual figure appears to have been made as a support for a
A very rare ivory figure of a kneeling foreigner vessel, presumably as one of a pair or larger group of similar figures.
17th century The foreign features can be compared to two figures formerly in the
The squat figure carved wearing a flowing robe tied at the neck and H.R.Norton, F.Mayer and R.Y. Mottahedeh Collections included in
waist with ribbons with traces of pigment, the figure kneeling with the the exhibition Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, London,
right knee raised and left knee on the ground, the round and smiling 1984, held by The Oriental Ceramic Society and the British Museum,
face with long curling locks encircled by a simple diadem above the Catalogue, p. 114 no.134. These two figures have been identified as
elongated ears weighed down by large hoop earrings, both arms Dutch by their clothing style which was fashionable amongst Dutch sea
outstretched behind as if to support a weighty load. captains in the second half of the 17th century, when Dutch power rose
9cm (3½in) high dramatically in the Far East, particularly around Taiwan and Fujian.
£25,000 - 30,000
HK$290,000 - 350,000 CNY240,000 - 280,000 Compare another related ivory figure, with only one arm reaching
behind as a support but with very similar flowing robes and diadem
十七世紀 象牙雕歐洲人物 to the present lot, included in the exhibition held by Spink & Son Ltd.,
Ivories of China and the East, London, 1984, no.17.
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