Page 108 - Chinese Art Auction April 25, 2020 2020 Galerie Zacke

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A ‘chIlONg’ IVORy POuRINg sPOON, QINg
dyNAsTy

China, 18th century. Carved in log raft shape with a figural
handle depicting five intertwined chilong dragons with their
bifurcated tails executed in meticulous openwork. One dragon
has its head upside down and a lingzhi cloud pattern, in high
relief, is adorning the rim of the spoon.

Provenance: Austrian private collection.
condition: Overall good condition with a minor old break at the
handle, which has been repaired, tiny natural age cracks and
wear. The ivory has nicely grown into a golden-yellow patina.

Weight: 79.8 g
Dimensions: Length 19.5 cm
The present tea pouring spoon, carved from the same piece of
ivory, and possibly modeled after an archaic jade, is elaborately
decorated with five lively four-clawed chilong dragons, detailed with
neatly incised spines, nostrils, ears and bifurcated scrolling tails. The
attention on details epitomizes the exquisiteness of earlier Qing
dynasty imperial ivory carving. Only a handful of other examples of
this type of chilong carvings are known to exist.
Similarly carved chilong dragons with archaistic motifs appear
to have been made as early as the yuan dynasty, as suggested
by a circular plaque in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
york, attributed to the yuan to Ming dynasty, included in Chinese
Decorative Arts: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997,
p. 41. The plaque is carved in high relief with four chilong dragons
clambering on an archaistic C-scrolled ground.
For a comparable ivory box and cover from the early Qing dynasty,
see one in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Palace
Museum Collection of Elite Carvings, Palace Museum, Beijing, 2002, 119
cat. no. 133. A cARVed gOuRd ‘lANdscAPe’ cRIcKeT cAge
ANd MATchINg IVORy cOVeR, QINg
According to court records, close to 30 ivory carvers served at the
Qing court from the Kangxi to Qianlong periods, including eight China, 1644-1912. The globular body with a broad waisted neck and
artisans from Suzhou, most of them related by blood or from the flaring towards the thick ivory-bound rim. The domed circular cover
same school. Surviving court archives, unfortunately, often lack the is finely pierced and carved in openwork with peaches and Buddha’s
names of the carvers or the details of the works, making it difficult hand citrus on foliate branches. The gourd patinated to a golden
to match them to individual pieces. For instance, according to the chestnut tone.
records, a pair of ivory boxes with archaistic dragons was presented
to the yongzheng Emperor in late 1726 but lack further details. Provenance: From an Austrian private collection.
See yangxindian Zaobanchu shiliao jilan [reader of historical condition: Good condition with one age crack to the gourd with an old
material on the Workshops in the Hall of Mental Cultivation], vol. 1: wax filling, the ivory rim with minor age cracks and a fine patina.
yongzheng chao [yongzheng period], Beijing, 2013, pp. 111-112.
Weight: 137.7 g in total
象牙雕螭龍勺，清代
中國，十八世紀。雕刻而成木筏狀，具象形手柄，刻畫了五條交織在一起的 Dimensions: Height 10.3 cm (the gourd and cover) and 12 cm (incl. base)
螭龍，其分叉的尾巴在細緻的鏤空中清晰可見。一條龍的頭頂朝下，勺子的
邊緣飾有高浮雕的靈芝雲紋。 The body lightly incised and carved to the exterior with a mountainous
landscape with a meandering river, pavilions, a small bridge, mature pine
來源：奧地利私人收藏 trees, other trees, a scholar taking in the scenery, and another figure fishing
品相：整體 品相良好，柄部有輕微舊裂，已修復。些微自然年代裂紋和磨
損。自然金黃色包漿。 from a small skiff in the water.
重量：79.8 克
尺寸：長 19.5 厘米 With a small matching hardwood base in the form of an open lotus leaf
supported on four feet, of the period. (2)
estimate euR 500,-
Starting price EUr 250,- AucTION ResulT
cOMPARIsON
Compare with a related gourd cricket cage
sold by Sotheby’s Hong Kong in Important
Chinese Art on 3 April 2019, lot 3689, for
HKD $40,000.

象牙蓋山水紋油壺魯葫蘆，清代
中國，1644-1912。葫芦高身，色已深黄，腹、腰、翻比例均匀，周身针刺山水纹，
纹饰浓淡有致。旧配象牙口框，鏤空雕刻仙桃佛手。
來源：奧地利私人收藏
品相：品相良好，一道年代裂紋，舊時已用蠟修復。象牙邊緣有輕微年代裂紋和細
膩包漿。
重量：縂137.7克
尺寸：葫蘆和蓋縂高10.3 厘米，含底座12 厘米
拍賣結果比較：一件相似油壺魯葫蘆售于香港蘇富比，2019年4月3日拍號3689，成
交價 HKD $40,000。
estimate euR 500,-
Starting price EUr 250,-

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