Page 36 - Sothebys Speelman Gems of Chinese Art

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A RARE CARVED AMETHYST 清乾隆 紫晶螭龍瑞芝洗
BRUSH WASHER AND IVORY 配 染色象牙座

STAND
來源：
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG Joseph M. Morpurgo，阿姆斯特丹，千禧年初

PERIOD 此紫晶圓雕螭龍瑞芝洗，形雅工巧，選材獨特，置於文房書
齋，尤添趣味。有清一朝，雖有以水晶為材之作，但紫晶之
finely carved in the form of two adjacent lingzhi-shaped 器甚稀，且多屬小物，如文房用品、鼻煙壺、印璽等，例如
washers with a bat perched on one edge, borne on gnarled 沈陽故宮博物院藏粉色紫晶靈芝卷雲花插及台北故宮博物院
leafy stems issuing further smaller lingzhi heads with a chilong 藏紫晶仙人像。參考清雍正時期弘曆御極前用之紫晶螭鈕「
clambering atop, the beast with a sinuous body terminating 樂善堂」橢圓璽，屬寶親王寶十六方組璽之一，現藏北京故
in a bifurcated tail, detailed with a finely combed mane and 宮博物院，見《故宮經典－明清帝后寶璽》，北京，2008
beard, the transparent stone of a pale violet tone with lighter
年，編號182，頁222。
inclusions, the brown-stained ivory stand intricately carved
in openwork with a beribboned bundle of curved stems
有關以紫晶為材之記錄，則可參考乾隆四十七年（1782年）
issuing budding and flowering lotus, broad veined leaves and
正月，賞賜公班第達（1721-1792年）之物，包括紫晶玉蘭
arrowheads
花插一件，見《清宮內務府造辦處檔案總匯》，北京，2005
10.5 cm, 4⅛ in.; overall 11.1 cm, 4⅜ in.
年，卷45，頁422-423。
PROVENANCE
Joseph M. Morpurgo, Amsterdam, early 2000s.
◉ HK$ 300,000-500,000
US$ 38,400-64,000

The present amethyst brush washer, skilfully carved in the
round with lively chilong and auspicious lingzhi, is unusual for
its wonderful craftsmanship and the use of the rare material.
Only a limited number of amethyst carvings from the Qing
dynasty is known, predominately small in size, such as seals
and snuff bottles, designed for the scholar’s desks or the
gentleman’s pockets. One such example is a pale amethyst
flower vessel carved with lingzhi and clouds, preserved in the
Shenyang Palace Museum. Another amethyst carving, in the
form of a reclining immortal, is in the collection of the National
Palace Museum, Taipei. See also an amethyst oval seal carved
with a recumbent chilong and the hall name Leshantang
(Delight in Goodness Hall), made during the Yongzheng period
for the future Qianlong Emperor while he was still a prince,
preserved in a box set of sixteen seals in the Palace Museum,
Beijing, and published in Gugong jingdian: Ming qing di hou
bao xi/Classics of the Forbidden City: Imperial Seals of the
Ming & Qing Dynasties, Beijing, 2008, cat. no. 182, p. 222.
It is recorded that in the first month of the 47th year of
the Qianlong period (1782), among the presents gifted to
Dnos-grub-rab-brtan (1721-1792), there was an amethyst
flower vessel carved with magnolia; see Qinggong neiwufu
zaobanchu dang’an zonghui [General collection of archival
records from the Qing imperial household department
workshop], Beijing, 2005, vol. 45, pp. 422-423.

34 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比