Page 212 - 2018 Hong Kong Important Chieese Art

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A RARE LACQUER-GILT AND ENAMELLED 清乾隆 染色象牙浮雕描金開光式花鳥圖方瓶
IVORY VASE
來源：
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD
私人收藏，七十年代至九十年代初購於巴黎
of square section supported on a small splayed base, with 香港蘇富比2012年4月4日，編號3074
a ribbed shoulder surmounted by a tall waisted neck and
a square rim with chamfered corners, flanked by two lotus
blooms in high relief suspending a loose cross-shaped handle,
deftly carved and undercut in openwork on each side with
recessed panels of birds perched on flowering branches
evoking the four seasons, peony, prunus, camellia and peach-
blossoms, reserved on a meticulously carved diaper ground
between key-fret at the shoulder and foot, the neck carved and
gilded on two sides in low relief with a single lotus wreathed by
leafy scrolls between, between a band of acanthus leaves at
the rim and upright ruyi heads at the shoulder, the ivory well
patinated to a creamy-white colour with details picked out in
polychrome
22.3 cm, 8⅜in.

PROVENANCE
A private collection, acquired in Paris between the 1970s and
the early 90s.
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 4th April 2012, lot 3074.

HK$ 900,000-1,200,000
US$ 115,000-153,000

The exquisite carving and superior quality of this ivory vase of intricate and richly detailed motifs, while simple designs
suggests an imperial commissioning or a palace workshop relied on smooth and highly finished surfaces. An imperial,
attribution of the Qianlong period. Vases carved of ivory are stateliness was created through the addition of colour by the
rare and this piece is notable for its rich and deep carving and addition of gilt lacquer and staining in carefully selected areas.
for the elegant design of birds perched on flowering branches.
No other related example appears to have been published
The flowers depicted symbolise the four seasons, the spring
although vases of this facetted form with deeply-carved panels
peach blossom, summer peony, autumn camellia and winter
are known. See a pair of larger vases of broader proportions,
prunus.
but depicting Immortals in landscapes and flanked with ringed
This vase epitomises the ivory carving style of the Imperial mask-head handles, sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 25th May
Workshops during the eighteenth century. This style combined 2011, lot 465. A later vase and cover similarly carved with
the two dominant carving styles that had emerged from the panels of flower sprays, but the vase of lozenge section and
beginning of the Qing dynasty: the intricate carving prowess also flanked with ringed mask-head handles, was offered in our
of Suzhou in the south and the polished textural effects of the New York rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 140; and a pair of tall,
private and court-owned workshops of the north in Beijing. square section baluster vases with dragon handles, each side
Under the patronage of the Qianlong Emperor and dictated decorated with scenes from Sanguozhi yanyi [Romance of the
by his taste, the court artisans created a unique courtly style Three Kingdoms], from the collection of Sir Victor Sassoon,
of ivory carving. The designs were characterised by a fusion is illustrated in S.E. Lucas, The Catalogue of Sassoon Chinese
of elaboration and restraint. Knife work was the focal point Ivories, vol. 2, pls 484A-D.

210 SOTHEBY’S 蘇富比