Page 36 - Christie's Leisurely Life May 29, 2019 Hong Kong

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
2921
A RARE CARVED CINNABAR
LACQUER DOUBLE-GOURD
EWER
MING DYNASTY, 15TH- 16TH CENTURY
The lower and upper bulb of the vase is finely
and deeply carved with dense Indian lotus and
scrolling leafy stems, bordered with lappets
above the splayed foot. The tapered neck is
decorated with a key-fret band and plantain
leaf. The C-shaped handle and the S-shaped
spout are carved with twelve-pointed star-
diapers.
9 º in. (23.5 cm.) high,
Japanese wood box
HK$600,000-800,000
US$77,000-100,000
While the form of this ewer points
to a Ming-dynasty date, the style
of carving draws its inspiration from
earlier Song-dynasty lacquer, with
flowers borne on undulating branches
with densely arranged combed leaves,
as seen on Lot 2903 the black lacquer
scroll tray in this sale.
Carved lacquer ewers in double-gourd
form from this period are extremely
rare. Only very few related examples
are known. An almost identical ewer
retaining a cover is in the Muwen
Tang Collection, illustrated in
Simon Kwan, The Muwen Tang
Collection Series: Chinese Lacquer,
Hong Kong, 2010, no. 67. Another
lacquer double-gourd ewer with
cover dating to the same period,
but rendered in tixi technique, is
in the Palace Museum, Beijing,
illustrated in Proceedings of
Conference on Ancient Chinese
Lacquer, The Chinese University
of Hong Kong, 2012, p. 54, fig.
16. Compare also to a tixi lacquer
facetted ewer formerly in the
Robert de Strycker Collection,
sold at Piasa Paris,
5 December 2007, lot 56.

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