Page 404 - Bonhams Chinese Art London May 2013
P. 404
369 Y The exquisite delicacy and the exceptional complexity of the carving
An Imperial ivory oviform reticulated vessel and cover in the present lot strongly suggests the origin of the Imperial Court.
It is extremely rare to find a related reticulated vessel of this type in
Qianlong important museums and private collections. Compare an ivory box with
comparable quality of craftsmanship in the Qing Court Collection, made
The unusual container exquisitely carved from a single piece of ivory with under Imperial command by the official Li Juelu during the Qianlong
period, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace
pairs of finger citron at the foot supporting six cleverly interlinked loose Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong
Kong, 2002, no.170.
sections of the body, each carved with an elongated shou character on a
finely-reticulated ground, linked at the top with six more pairs of finger
citron around the neck, the screw cover with a finial shaped like an
endless knot raised on spreading petals.
8.5cm (3 3/8in) high (2).
£8,000 - 12,000
HK$94,000 - 140,000 CNY75,000 - 110,000
清乾隆 御製象牙鏤雕壽字紋蓋器 The shape and the structure of the vessel may suggest its function as
being an insect cage; due to its small size, it may have been intended
to house a firefly (rather than a cricket), which would have gleamed
attractively through the finely reticulated panels. Alternatively, the
meticulously reticulated carvings are also reminiscent of the jade
fragrance bags in the Palace Museum, Beijing, dated to the Qing
Dynasty, see examples illustrated in Compendium of Collections in the
Palace Museum: Jade 9, Beijing, 2011, pl.176, 177, 178 and 184.
400 | Bonhams
