Page 54 - 2021 March 15th Fine Chinese Paintings and Works of Art, Bonhams NYC New York

PROPERTY OF AN ENGLISH LADY The scene depicted on this delightful amber carving may well
represent a passage from the Daoist myth ‘Legend of the White
53 Snake’ (Bai She Zhuan). The two snakes on the interior of the
A DAOIST DARK AMBER TREE-TRUNK-FORM MINIATURE tree trunk probably show the snake-incarnations of Bai Suzhen,
a beautiful lady, and Xiaoqing, her maid. Whilst the seated figure
VASE OR INCENSE-STICK HOLDER
Late 18th-mid 19th Century hunched to one side may well depict Xu Xian, a young man
Primarily carved as an old tree trunk forming a vessel or vase at the whom Bai Suzhen falls in love with and marries. The appearance
center and surrounded by leafy blossoming branches of prunus, peony of the mythical three-legged toad further verifies the Daoist
and millet that cover the surface, a hunched figure of a bearded and subject. The long-tailed bird, shoudainiao, standing on plum
robed gentleman sits to one side (possibly Xu Xian) on a rocky outcrop, branches was another popular image and with the addition of
his large straw hat tied on his back, before him stands a long-tailed bamboo imagery forms the rebus ‘May husband and wife enjoy
bird whilst under nearby knotty branches a mythical three-legged toad longevity’ qimei zhushou.
squats almost un-noticed, above on the interior rim of the tree-trunk
are two slithering snakes (possibly Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing). It is interesting to note, that a large number of amber carvings,
3 3/4in (9.5cm) high and indeed amber snuff bottles, depict scenes of Daoist themes.
It is possible given the wide-ranging Daoist subject matter of
$3,000 - 4,000 these carvings, that a particular workshop or part of a Daoist
community, was the leading producer and that they found the
mystical qualities of the ‘fossilized’ resin material somehow in
十八世紀晚期至十九世紀中期 琥珀雕仙人花鳥瓶 balance or accordance with their alchemical leanings.

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