Page 60 - The Parry Collection Bonhams London November 2 2021

19 Y
A VERY RARE CARVED AMBER MELON- The auspicious designs depicted on the Although amber boxes dating to the 17th and
SHAPED ‘DRAGON’ BOX AND COVER present box would have made it a suitable 18th century are rare, the shape of the present
18th century objects used by the Imperial family or high- box and the arrangement of decorative
The lobed vessel of warm honey tone, crisply ranking members of the Court. Dragons designs on its cover and body closely
carved to the cover with a front-facing writhing embodied royalty and dominion in China, compare with a lacquer lobed box decorated
dragon grasping a flaming pearl amongst and when clutching the flaming pearl, with dragons, mid Qing dynasty, illustrated in
billowing cloud scrolls, all within a shaped expressed the visual metaphor of the good The Complete Collection of Lacquer, vol.6,
cartouche, the curving sides with panels of ruler who behaved wisely for the well-being Fuzhou, 1993, pl.138.
formal lotus flowerheads, the gently curving of his subjects.
box similarly carved with lotus, wood stand. Compare with a related amber ‘dragon’
5.6cm (2 1/4in) wide. (3). Amber was a highly revered material and washer, Qing dynasty, which was sold at
would have required great skill and precision Sotheby’s New York, 17 March 2015, lot 308.
£8,000 - 12,000 to successfully render the shape of the melon
CNY72,000 - 110,000 as well as the finely-detailed decorations of 上佳褐紅蜜色透明琥珀琢制，質地通透，
the dragon and lotus. Amber is also known 流光溢彩。淺浮雕開光雲龍紋，龍目圓睜，
as hu po, which can be translated as ‘the 揚須擺尾，矯健威猛，雕工一絲不苟。
十八世紀 琥珀雕龍紋海棠形蓋盒 tiger’s soul’. As the tiger is considered to be
the king of beasts in China, amber is therefore 琥珀者，古代松柏等樹脂的化石。中國古代
Provenance: associated with the strong qualities of the 有許多關於琥珀的神奇傳說，如稱琥珀為
Parry Collection, London, and thence by tiger including the ability to capture and chase 「虎魄」，認為琥珀是老虎的魂魄；中醫認
descent away evil spirits. It also symbolises longevity. 為其有通淋化瘀、寧心安神之功效；佛經中
亦曾多次提及琥珀為「異類珍財」、「上妙
來源： The art of amber carving reached its zenith 供具」。十八世紀，琥珀工藝臻善，清宮造
倫敦Parry家族收藏，並由後人保存迄今 during the 18th century, when a vast range 辦處與蘇州作坊皆出產各式琥珀製品。
of objects was produced at both the Imperial
Notable for its refined carving and the Workshops located in the Forbidden City and 現存十七至十八世紀的琥珀蓋盒存世極少，但
attractive translucent golden-honey tone of at select ateliers in Suzhou. 本例造型紋飾在漆器製品上偶有可見，如一例
the amber, which has been sensitively carved 清中期戧金彩漆雲龍菊瓣式盒，見《中國漆器
in the shape of a segmented melon, the 全集》，卷六，福州，1993年，圖版138。
present box is a rare example dating to the
18th century. 紐約蘇富比曾售一例清琥珀雕雙龍戲珠紋花
瓣洗，2015年3月17日，拍品編號308，可資
比對。

For details of the charges payable in addition to the final Hammer Price of each Lot
58 | BONHAMS please refer to paragraphs 7 & 8 of the Notice to Bidders at the back of the catalogue.