Page 109 - Chinese Art Auction April 25, 2020 2020 Galerie Zacke

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A cANTON schOOl ‘MAgIc’ IVORy bAll AN IVORy TeAPOT ANd cOVeR, QINg dyNAsTy
ON A TAll sTANd, QINg dyNAsTy
China, 1820-1880. The massive teapot carved with two lobed
China, Guangdong, 1840-1900. Carved ivory with detailed openwork, square reserves depicting playing children amid craggy rocks,
reticulation and incising. The group consists of a large set of concentric palm and pine trees. The foot, spout, handle, shoulder and lid
balls, a supporting plate, a stand, a top finial and a base. further decorated with foliate lotus scrolls in light relief. The knob
carved as single lotus bud.
Provenance: From an old English private collection.
condition: Some losses, age cracks, old wear and a fine, naturally grown Provenance: B. Takinami, Juan C.
patina. Gomez, Montevideo. Original label
to base. Georg Weifert (1850-1937),
Weight: 349 g acquired from the above. Thence by
Dimensions: Height 34.5 cm descent in the same family. Weifert
was a Serbo-Austrian industrialist
The set of concentric balls bears numer- and the first governor of the Federal
ous smaller, nested openwork balls Bank of the Kingdom of Serbia, Georg Weifert (1850-1937)
inside, each manually and differently Croatia and Slovenia.
carved, one inside the other from the condition: Natural age cracks, fine patina, some stains, wear and
largest to the smallest, ingenuously made traces of use. Small old filling to lip. The handle with minuscule
from a single piece of ivory. The stand traces of old glue. Overall good condition.
shows several scenes including scholars
playing weiqi and boys holding a string Weight: 1,337.7 g (excluding the base)
of cash. The base shows floral scrolls in Dimensions: Length 21 cm, Height 19 cm (without base) and 21 cm
openwork carving. (with the base)
This type of ivory balls was made in the Associated hardwood openwork base. (2)
Guangdong region during the mid- to
late-Qing dynasty. The most puzzling 象牙茶壺，清代
thing about this amazing piece of 中國，1820-1880。大茶壺開光雕刻著在假山園林中嬉戲的孩子。足部、壺
craftsmanship is how these delicate balls 嘴、執柄、肩部和蓋子上裝飾著纏枝蓮紋。蓋鈕雕成蓮花裝。
were made one inside the other. This 來源：蒙得維的亞B. Takinami，Juan C. Gomez。足底可見原始標簽。
technique fascinated the Chinese as well Weifert (1850-1937)收藏，同一家族保存至今 。Weifert曾爲塞爾維亞中央銀
as the Europeans in the 19th century and 行大班以及塞爾維亞、克羅地亞與斯洛文尼亞聯邦銀行大班。
its earliest nickname was the ‘demon’s 品相：天然年代裂紋，包漿細膩，一些污漬，磨損和使用痕跡;壺嘴有小的舊填
balls’. 充物；執柄上有少量的舊膠痕跡。整體 品相良好.
重量：不含底座1,337.7 克
尺寸：長 21 厘米，高19 厘米 (不含底座) 與 21 厘米 (含底座)
The process of making a demon’s ball
usually consists of the following six
stages: estimate euR 500,-
Starting price EUr 250,-
1. Selection and cutting down of material
2. Using a lathe to turn the cylinder into
a sphere
3. Boring holes
4. Carving inner spheres using a curved
cutting tool
5. Decorative carving of outer layer
6. Decorative carving of inner layers
Steps two to four consist of the intricate
cutting necessary to produce nested
balls. These steps require the use of
a lathe. Another important trick is the
drilling of evenly spaced perpendicular
holes into the outer surface. In fact,
this is based on an ingenious, secret
geometrical concept which is believed to
have been lost at some point in history,
making it impossible to ever reproduce
these balls again.
With an associated hardwood stand,
carved in openwork, dating from the
same period. (2)
Literature comparison: The National Pal-
ace Museum, Taipei, recently produced
an interesting video, explaining the con-
cept and technique of ancient demon balls.

廣東象牙套球擺件，清代
中國，廣東，1840-1900。套球表面以高浮雕刻人物樓臺，內部則雕刻各種鏤空精緻的
幾何紋，每層皆可靈活轉動。支架上鏤雕八仙及山水人物。整個擺件由承盤、支架、
底座組合而成。
來源：英國私人老收藏
品相：一些缺損，年代裂紋，老磨損和細膩天然的包漿。
重量：349 克
尺寸：高34.5 厘米
estimate euR 500,-
Starting price EUr 250,-

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