Page 8 - November 2016 London Bonhams asian Art

PROPERTY FROM A URUGUAYAN PRIVATE COLLECTION

FORMED IN SHANGHAI IN THE 1920’S

TO BE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE

LOTS 1-31

1†YФ 3†YФ
AN IVORY BRUSHPOT, BITONG FOUR FACETED IVORY BRUSHPOTS, BITONG
17th/18th century 17th/18th century
Carved in low relief with Shoulao resting upon cloud scrolls, a crane at Comprising: one of octagonal form, carved with floral panels, alternating
his side and a stag below, amongst The Eight Immortals gathered in a with poetic couplets complimenting the beauty of various flowers;
landscape of pine, lingzhi and rockwork, wood stand. a hexagonal brushpot, relief carved with chrysanthemums, prunus
14.6cm (5.3/4in) high. (2). and lotus, alternating with further panels of poetic couplets of similar
subject; another similar floral brushpot, uninscribed; and a hexagonal
£1,000 - 1,500 brushpot, each face incised with couplets of the poem ‘Going Out The
CNY8,600 - 13,000 HK$10,000 - 15,000 Passes’ by the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu, bases missing.
The largest 12cm (4.3/4in) high. (4).
Provenance
A Uruguayan Private Collection. £1,000 - 1,500
CNY8,600 - 13,000 HK$10,000 - 15,000
2†YФ
A FINE IVORY BRUSHPOT, BITONG Provenance
17th/18th century A Uruguayan Private Collection.
Carved with a continuous scene of two gentlemen seated playing
weiqi, the reverse with a boy attendant bearing a dish of peaches Carved on one side with a floral landscape and on another with an
before a farmer carrying a hoe, all in a pavilion garden of paulownia, inscription, the composition is reminiscent of the typical structure of
willow and rockwork, beside a fast flowing river with foaming waves. classical Chinese painting. Compare the ‘floral’ brushpots with a late
14.7cm (5.3/4in) high. Ming ivory example from the Ashfield Collection and the Adrian Joseph
Collection, sold in Bonhams Hong Kong, 26 May 2013, Lot 306.
£1,000 - 1,500
CNY8,600 - 13,000 HK$10,000 - 15,000 Another comparable example dated 17th/18th century, sold in Sotheby’s
London, 9 November 2011, Lot 12.
Provenance
A Uruguayan Private Collection.

Similar brush pots to the present lot are illustrated in Chinese Ivories
from the Kwan Collection, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990,
pl. 74-76, where dated Jiajing-Wanli (1522-1620).

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