Page 320 - Christie's, Important Chinese Works of Art December 2, 2015 HK

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ASIAN COLLECTION
3306
A SET OF SIXTEEN IMPERIAL INK CAKES
JIAQING PERIOD (1796-1820)
Of various shapes, each ink cake is moulded in shallow relief on
one side with a scene depicting a hall, garden, or other location
in one of the imperial complexes, with the other side moulded
with an inscription identifying the scene. The inscription and
areas of the decoration are highlighted in gilt with occasional
green details. Each bears a Jiaqing nianzhi mark on the side. The
set is accompanied by a four-tiered wooden box with a bail
handle on each side, while the front of the cover is incised with an
inscription Yuyuantumo.
Box: 5 º in. (13.4 cm.) high, 9 in. (22.7 cm.) wide,
6 ¡ in. (16.2 cm.) deep (16)
HK$300,000-500,000 US$39,000-65,000
PROVENANCE
Sold at Sotheby’s London, 12 May 1989, lot 554
Mary and George Bloch Collection; sold at Sotheby’s Hong
Kong, 23 October 2005, lot 99
The current set comes from a group of sixty-four, with each one
depicting a different scene from the imperial complexes. The rubbings
of the moulds for this set are illustrated in Ink Mould Engraving
of Huizhou, Hefei, 1985, pp. 39-102. Compare to lot 3305 in this
catalogue for another set belonging to this same group, and a
complete set sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2012,
lot 2379.
ΐ㔎喯⭴㭼炻1989⸜5㚰12㖍炻㉵⑩554嘇
䐒渿⍲匲㘢⌂䍵啷炻楁㷗喯⭴㭼炻2005⸜10㚰23㖍炻
㉵⑩99嘇
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