Page 110 - 2018 Hong Kong Important Chieese Art

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PROPERTY OF A LADY 清乾隆 染色象牙雕群仙賀壽圖圓屏 配
A RARE LARGE IMPERIAL IVORY 「金蟾吐珠」金漆木座
EMBELLISHED MIRROR AND GILT-
LACQUERED WOOD STAND 來源：
駱克伉儷收藏
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD
香港蘇富比2005年5月2日，編號567
the circular mirror set with a narrow wooden frame and
meticulously embellished on the reverse in stained ivory, gilt 展覽：
metal, soapstone and kingfisher feathers with a dynamic scene 美國麻省賽勒姆市皮博迪．艾塞克斯美術館，借展至1995
of numerous Daoist figures and immortals amidst pavilions set 年
in a riverscape setting, each portrayed clad in multi-coloured
attire accentuated with fine details, some rendered riding
mythical beasts, others holding various tributes, including a
peach and ruyi sceptres, the frame supported as a pearl on the
gilt-lacquered stand carved in the form of a three-legged toad
with its head tilted upwards and issuing wisps of ruyi clouds,
all resting on a further wood stand carved to simulate jagged
rockwork
mirror 59.5 cm, 23⅜ in.
overall 127 cm, 50 in.
PROVENANCE
Collection of Mr and Mrs Lockhart.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 2nd May 2005, lot 567.
EXHIBITED
On loan to the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem,
Massachusetts, U.S.A., until 1995.
HK$ 700,000-900,000
US$ 89,500-115,000

This sumptuous mirror and stand boasts of the economic
and cultural wealth of the Qing Empire as well as the Qianlong
Emperor’s patronage of various religious institutions including
Daoism. Compare an intricately carved ivory screen mounted
on a swirling cloud base to form a miniature pavilion, from
the Qing court collection and still in Beijing, published in The
Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum.
Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Shanghai,
2001, pl. 179. In its meticulous execution that brings together
precious materials, the reverse of the present mirror is
reminiscent of panels of the Qianlong period; for example see
one, decorated with ‘one hundred birds’, sold in these rooms,
5th October 2016, lot 3614.
The combination of an ivory embellished mirror with a gilt-
painted stand in the form of a three-legged toad, which has
long been associated with wealth due to its ability to spit out
coins, is particularly rare. While no other related example
appears to have been published, similarly fashioned toad-
form stands are known; for example see a similarly composed
hardwood stand, attributed to the 18th/19th century, which
would also have formed the base of a circular plaque, from the
Lionel Rosenberg collection, sold at Christie’s New York, 17th
September 2015, lot 1054, together with a zitan version with
flat top, attributed to the 18th century, lot 1090.

108 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比