Page 138 - Fine Asian Works of Art December 19, 2016, SF

8217 8217 (detail) 8218

PROPERTY FROM THE FAMILY OF LESTER KNOX LITTLE,
LATE INSPECTOR GENERAL, CHINESE MARITIME CUSTOMS
SERVICE, ACQUIRED IN CHINA PRIOR TO 1949

8218
A PAIR OF MINIATURE BRONZE BALUSTER VASES
17th century
Each cast with a pair of ring handles protruding from a stylized wave
band worked in low relief around the waisted neck, the ovoid body
supported on a tall flared foot closed with a shallow recessed base,
the worn surfaces showing traces of the original black lacquer finish.
3 1/2in (9cm) high

US$1,000 - 1,500

PROPERTY FROM VARIOUS OWNERS

8219 8219
A SILVER AND GOLD-INLAID BRONZE TORTOISE-SHAPED
8217 WATER COUPE
A CAST BRONZE IMPERIAL SEAL, GUANFANG 17th/18th century
Dated by inscription to 1895 The engaging creature inlaid with gold trim around the eyes and silver
Heavily cast in rectangular section and soldered to a tapered cylindrical wires accenting each of the four legs and the stylized scroll work
handle, the top incised to read Da Qing qinchai chushi dachen covering its carapace, the underside cast with a partially obliterated
guanfang libu zao in Han Chinese beside a parallel inscription in inscription in archaic seal script exhorting future generations to
Manchu, the intaglio underside with a similar inscription in elaborate treasure it.
kedou or archaistic seal script reading Guangxu qinchai chushi dachen 4in (10cm) long
guanfang, the sides incised with the Guangxu ershiyi nian jiu yue date
and an inventory number 1,458 reading Guang zi yi qian si bai wu shi US$4,000 - 6,000
ba hao.
4 3/4in (12cm) high For a very similar bronze water dropper ascribed to the 17th/18th
century, see Michael Goedhuis, Chinese and Japanese Bronzes
US$5,000 - 7,000 A.D. 1100-1900 London,1989, cat. no. 28. A similar tea-dust glazed
porcelain water dropper, ascribed to the Yongzheng period, was
A translation of the Han Chinese inscription on the top would be: 'A offered in Sotheby's, Hong Kong, sale 0571, 7 April 2015, lot 3679.
seal for the imperial envoy on a diplomatic mission for the Great Qing,
manufactured by the Ministry of Rites.'

For a similar piece from the Qianlong era, see lot 259, Sotheby's,
London, 11 May 2011, Sale no. L11210.

136 | BONHAMS