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Click here to subscribeMetalware including a Christofle silver plated chamberstick, stamped, 21cms long; an Orivit pewter desk stand, lacking reservoir, stamped, 22.5cms long and an American pewter dish by Wendell August, stamped, 15cms wide (3) Condition Report: All worn from use Chamberstick- very rubbed Orivit- worn around edge and dirty Dish- fair- rubbing to edges Condition Report Disclaimer
A jade inlaid silver-alloy jar and coverThe jade, mid Qing Dynasty; the vase and cover, late Qing Dynasty/Republic PeriodThe jar of rounded square section, formed of angular scrollwork and floral motifs in coral and hardstones, each side inset with a large pale green jade plaque each carved with a scholar or sage in a mountain landscape, the domed cover similarly decorated and surmounted by a coral finial. 21cm (8 1/4in) high. (2).Footnotes:清晚期/民國，及明中期玉牌 銀合金嵌寶玉蓋罐This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: YY Subject to CITES regulations when exporting items outside of the EU, see clause 13.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A large Chinese export silver 'dragon' trophyWH Xiechang 90 mark, late 19th century, dated by inscription to the 20th year of the Guangxu reign corresponding to 1894, and of the periodFinely embossed with four dragons amongst clouds on the exterior in low-relief repoussé, one side with a coat-of-arms, with the monogram CK, with incised inscription, set with two bamboo-form handles, the stem as the tails of three joint ao fishes rising from a spreading foot embossed with bamboo branches. 38.7cm (15 1/4in) high. (2.1kg).Footnotes:1894年製 銀雲龍紋竹節耳盃「WH」、「協昌」、「90」錘印款Provenance: a German private collection來源：德國私人收藏WH stands for Wang Hing, which was a well-known craft shop, based in Hong Kong, 10 Queen's Road Central, famous for specialising in gold and silver from the late Qing dynasty to the Republican period. Wang Hing's wares were considered to be of very high quality and he once supplied silver ware articles for Tiffany & Co.; see The Silver Age: Origins and Trade of Chinese Export Silver, Hong Kong, 2017, p.212.Compare with a similar Chinese export silver 'dragon' trophy, WH Xiechang 90 mark, late Qing dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams London, 8 November 2018, lot 271.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A very fine and rare coconut reticulated pomander and cover18th centuryThe domed cover and pomander each deftly carved and pierced with a writhing central dragon amidst curling clouds, all within diaper pattern borders and a central key-fret border, the coconut of dark-chocolate tone. 6.2cm (2 1/2in) diam. (2).Footnotes:十八世紀 椰殼鏤雕龍紋香熏Provenance: J.C.Oswald (1857-1930) (label)Dilys Mary Eaton and thence by descent來源：J.C.Oswald（1857-1930）（標籤）Dilys Mary Eaton夫人舊藏，並由後人保存迄今John Charles Oswald (1857-1930) was a tea merchant. He arrived in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, in the late 1880s, having worked for a tea importer in London for thirteen years. Initially working for Odell & Co. as a clerk, he moved within a few years to Bathgate & Co. where he became manager and partner. Oswald combined his work for Bathgate & Co. with work for other firms, such as Fairhurst & Co. in the 1900s, and he was also Consul for the Netherlands from the 1890s and later Vice-Consul for Norway. Oswald was a keen amateur photographer and eight of his photograph albums are held at the School of Oriental & African Studies Archives.As has been pointed out by G.Tsang and H.Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, no.256, the early Ming connoisseur Cao Zhao, lists coconut shell in the 'Rare Woods' section in his study of antiquity, Gegu Yaolun. Cao cites two southern provinces, Guangdong (which would have included also Hainan) and Guangxi, as well as Annam (modern day Vietnam) as the source of this material and mentions it being 'either painted or set in silver to make wine cups, wine pots, individual plates, wine ewers, and water ladles.' In a later, enlarged edition volume of 1462, he adds, 'the small ones are the most expensive and hard to come by'. See, P.David, Chinese Connoisseurship, the Ko Ku Yao Lun: The Essential Criteria of Antiquities, London, 1971, p.156. See also Tsang and Moss, Arts from the Scholar's Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, no.256, for a small carved coconut shell wine cup with a silver liner.See also a round box and cover of coconut shell, mid Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Bamboo, Wood, Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Carvings, Hong Kong, 2002, p.96, no.88.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A pair of very rare imperial gilt-lacquer and mother-of-pearl-inlaid display cabinetsYongzheng/Qianlong One cabinet with nine variously proportioned and positioned open compartments, the other with eight compartments, all framed within black and gold lacquer friezes superbly embellished with mother-of-pearl inlays with an elaborate decoration of lotus flowerheads amidst dense foliage, the interior coated with dark green lacquer, meticulously enriched with lotus blossoms borne on meandering foliate scrolls, all raised on four legs linked by a lower frieze. Each 168.1cm (66 1/4in) high x 70.1cm (27 5/8in) wide x 32.2cm (12 3/4in) deep. (2).Footnotes:清雍正/乾隆 御製黑漆描金嵌螺鈿花卉紋多寶格一對Provenance: Livio Borghese (1874-1939), 11th Prince of Sulmona, Prince of Rossano, Prince of Vivaro, Prince of Montecompatri, Duke of Palombara, Duke of Poggio Nativo and Castelchiodato, head of the House of Borghese, Italy, and thence by descent來源：意大利蘇爾莫納第十一任親王，羅薩諾親王，維瓦羅親王，蒙泰孔帕特里親王，帕隆巴拉公爵，波其奧納蒂沃及卡斯特爾基奧達托公爵，意大利博爾蓋塞眾議院議長，利維奧·博爾蓋塞（1874-1939）舊藏，並由後人保存迄今Prince Livio Borghese was an Italian diplomat from the end of the 19th century until his death in 1939, serving in China, the Ottoman Empire and other European countries. It is likely that the present lot was acquired during his service in China. His elder brother Prince Scipione Borghese (1871-1927), 10th Prince of Sulmona, was famous for winning the 'Peking to Paris' car race in 1907.The present pair of cabinets belongs to an exclusive group of lacquer furniture manufactured for Imperial consumption, decorated in the virtuoso technique of mother-of-pearl inlay, with the incorporation of gold and silver foil. While the use of the mother-of-pearl inlay on lacquer, employed throughout the Ming dynasty, became very popular during the Kangxi period, the gilt decoration on lacquer became more prevalent from the Yongzheng period. The spectacular visual effect, resulting from the combination of the brilliant gilding and the endless shades of pink, purple and green iridescences, reveals the exceptional dexterity of the imperial craftsmen. Compare the scrolling floral borders, executed in gilding and mother-of-pearl inlays, decorating an imperial black-lacquer throne and matching screen, both dated to the third quarter of the 17th century, from the Museum of Asian Art, Berlin, illustrated in Im Zeichen Des Drachen, Stuttgart, 2007, pp.202-204.Openwork display cabinets, known as duobaoge or 'curio cabinet of many treasures', developed and reached the height of popularity during the 18th century gracing the Imperial halls. The carefully designed asymmetrical and irregular compartments are characteristic of the duobaoge developed in the early Qing period. Such cabinets would have been used to display precious objects including ceramics, jade carvings, cloisonné enamel and archaic and later bronzes.A related double-pair of mother-of-pearl-inlaid red and green lacquer cabinets, mid Qing dynasty, from the Qing Court Collection, is in the Chuxiugong 'Hall of Gathered Elegance' in the Forbidden City. Each cabinet is placed side by side with another to make a pair, and each pair is placed in a different part of the Imperial hall. The present lot of one such pair of cabinets would almost certainly have formed part of the same suite of display cabinets; see Classics of the Forbidden City: Inlaid Furniture, Beijing, 2013, pl.24 (showing one such pair of cabinets); and Ming Qing Gongting Jia Zhu Da Guan, vol.II, Beijing, 2006, pp.696-697, pls.798-1 and 798-4 (showing the double pairs of cabinets in the Chuxiugong).Compare to a related pair of Imperial mother-of-pearl-inlaid red and gilt-green lacquer cabinets, Mid Qing dynasty, which was sold at Bonhams Hong Kong, 29 May 2018, lot 32.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A rare five-colour-cloud blue-ground silk robe, jifuFirst half 19th centuryThe blue silk finely worked in couched colour gold and silver thread and fine counted stitch with nine five-clawed dragons pursuing flaming pearls amidst five-colour clouds interspersed with bats and the Eight Buddhist Emblems above a wide terrestrial diagram and lishui stripe separated by billowing ruyi-shaped clouds, with similar decoration repeated on the border, collar and horsehoof cuffs. 140.5cm (55 1/2in) high.Footnotes:十九世紀上半葉 藍地繡彩雲金銀龍紋袍Provenance: Anne Moen Bullitt (1924-2007)Christie's London, 15 May 2009, lot 314Anne Moen Bullitt was an American socialite, philanthropist, and horsebreeder. Her father, William Christian Bullitt, was the first American ambassador to the Soviet Union and later became his country's ambassador to France under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In her youth she was regarded as a great beauty, and was known for assembling a wardrobe of rare and valuable classic haute couture items. She bought a 700-acre estate in County Kildare, where she enjoyed much success and fame in Ireland as a horse owner, breeder and trainer, and became the first woman in Ireland to be granted a racehorse trainer's licence.來源：Anne Moen Bullitt舊藏倫敦佳士得，2009年5月15日，拍品編號314Anne Moen Bullitt，美國名媛、慈善家及賽馬培育者。其父William Christian Bullitt曾任首位美國駐蘇聯大使，後在美國總統羅斯福任內任美國駐法大使。 Bullitt女士天生麗質，並以其品味獨到的經典高級女裝收藏而聞名。她在愛爾蘭基爾代爾郡購置了佔地700英畝的莊園，進行賽馬的培育和訓練，並成為了愛爾蘭首位獲得賽馬訓練師執照的女性，在育馬界獲得了巨大成功和聲望。The delicate bright gold and silver couching and the counted-stitch embroidery against the textured blue ground provide a striking contrast on this remarkable robe. A related blue gauze 'dragon' robe, 19th century, is illustrated by C. Hall et al. Power Dressing, Textiles for Rulers and Priests from the Chris Hall Collection,, Singapore, 2006, p.147, no.23, where the authors mention that blue as a background colour for dragon robes was typically worn by the 3rd and 4th degree princes as well as nobles down to the 11th degree. A similar blue-ground silk 'dragon' robe, Jiaqing, embroidered with five-coloured ruyi clouds, was sold at Christie's New York, 19 March 2008, lot 26.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A rare Imperial embroidered yellow-ground Twelve-Symbol dragon robe, jifu19th centuryThe robe worked in satin stitch in shades of blue, green, red and pale violet and couched gold threads on the front and back panels, with nine five-clawed dragons pursuing 'flaming pearls' amidst clusters of clouds interspersed with bats, auspicious motifs and the Twelve Symbols of Imperial authority, all reserved on a rich Imperial yellow ground above the terrestrial diagram with lishui stripe at the hem, with dark blue-ground cuffs, collar and sleeve bands decorated with further dragons and clouds. 149cm (58 5/8in) long. Footnotes:十九世紀 明黃緞繡五彩金龍十二章紋吉服袍Provenance: Anne Moen Bullitt (1924-2007)Christie's London, 15 May 2009, lot 317 Anne Moen Bullitt was an American socialite, philanthropist, and horsebreeder. Her father, William Christian Bullitt, was the first American ambassador to the Soviet Union and later became his country's ambassador to France under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In her youth she was regarded as a great beauty, and was known for assembling a wardrobe of rare and valuable classic haute couture items. She bought a 700-acre estate in County Kildare, where she enjoyed much success and fame in Ireland as a horse owner, breeder and trainer, and became the first woman in Ireland to be granted a racehorse trainer's licence.來源：Anne Moen Bullitt（1924-2007）舊藏 倫敦佳士得，2009年5月15日，拍品編號317Anne Moen Bullitt，美國名媛、慈善家及賽馬培育者。其父William Christian Bullitt曾任首位美國駐蘇聯大使，後在美國總統羅斯福任內任美國駐法大使。 Bullitt女士天生麗質，並以其品味獨到的經典高級女裝收藏而聞名。她在愛爾蘭基爾代爾郡購置了佔地700英畝的莊園，進行賽馬的培育和訓練，並成為了愛爾蘭首位獲得賽馬訓練師執照的女性，在育馬界獲得了巨大成功和聲望。Delicately embroidered with nine five-clawed dragons riding the heavens and worked in metallic gold and silver threads amidst a profusion of trailing clouds interspersed with the Twelve Symbols of Imperial Sovereignty, the present robe is a rare example of festive garments worn by the highest-ranking female members of the Qing society. Unlike robes worn by men, female garments lacked the two vents at the front and back.Robes decorated with designs drawn from the repertoire of court symbols, such as the dragons, reinforced the privilege of an educated and sophisticated elite focused on the power of textiles to convey social status to the viewers. The quintessential symbol of Imperial power, five-clawed dragons embodied royalty and dominion and expressed the visual metaphor of the good ruler who behaved wisely for the well being of his subjects. The Twelve Symbols of Imperial Authority further reinforce the emperor's essence over eloquence, articulation, forcefulness and vigour. According to the 'Book of History' (Shujing 書經), the legendary Emperor Shun, believed to have ruled during the third millennium BC, referred to these symbols as suitable decoration for Imperial formal attire and in 1766, the Qianlong emperor restricted the use of these motifs to imperial robes. See G.Dickinson and L.Wrigglesworth, Imperial Wardrobe, Berkeley, 2002, pp.14-30.A rigid scheme defined the position of the Twelve Symbols on the robes. The sun, moon, stars, and mountain, symbolised the four main ceremonies at which the emperor presided throughout the year at the Altars of Heaven, Earth, Sun and Moon. They were placed in pairs at the shoulders, chest and mid-back area. The paired dragons, the golden pheasant, the confronted ji character and the hatchet, represented all things on earth and the ruler's ability to make decisions. They decorated the chest area, while the sacrificial vessels, the aquatic grass, the grains of millet and the flames, representing ancestor worship and four of the Five Elements, were placed at the mid-calf level of the coat.The seven-shaded lishui bands are flawlessly woven and include the aniline purple tone, which was imported into China from Europe circa 1863 and was highly favoured by the Dowager empress Cixi. See R. Silberstein, Vicious Purple or a 'First Class Dye'?: Finding a Place for the Foreign in Nineteenth-Century Chinese Dress Culture, Paper presented at College Art Association Annual Conference, New York, 2013.Compare with a similar yellow-ground Twelve-Symbol robe, 19th century, a slightly later example, also a woman's robe, illustrated in Secret Splendors of the Chinese Court: Qing Dynasty Costume from the Charlotte Hill Grant Collection, Denver 1982, pp.60-61. A similar yellow-ground robe embroidered with the Twelve Symbols, 19th century, was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 30 November 2011, lot 3143.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A rare dingyao spittoon, zhadouNorthern Song DynastyThinly potted with a compressed globular body incised around the exterior with stylised lotus petals, the waisted neck surmounted by a wide flared mouth carved with further floral motifs, covered overall in a creamy-white glaze of ivory tone.22cm (8 5/8in) diam.Footnotes:北宋 定窰白釉劃蓮紋渣斗Provenance: Berwald Oriental Art, LondonProfessor Conrad Harris, UK, acquired from the above on 30 April 2002來源：英國倫敦古董商Berwald Oriental Art英國康拉德・哈里斯教授舊藏，於2002年4月30日購自前者Conrad Harris became interested in Chinese pottery in the late 1990s, around the time he retired as Professor of General Practice at Leeds University. Having moved from a career in medical academia, he took an academic approach to learning about the styles and artefacts of different periods, from the Neolithic to the great dynasties of China. Harris was a highly erudite collector, who travelled extensively in China, pursuing his interest in ancient pottery wares through many provincial museums. He gave regular lectures and, in 2002, gained a Diploma in Asian Art from the British Museum. He was an active member of the Oriental Ceramics Society and in the 2003/04 Oriental Ceramic Society Transactions, he contributed the lecture 'Chinese ceramic horses and how they changed'. Most importantly, he gained immense pleasure from seeing his collection take pride of place on the shelves all around his study.Dingyao zhadou vessels of this form are rare with very few published examples. See a related 'Ding' zhadou, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, similarly carved with lotus flowers borne on an undulating scroll on the wide rim but with a truncated cylindrical body, illustrated in The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, Shanghai, 1999, vol.7, Part 11, no.20. It is possible that the present lot is emulating a piece from the 'Yue' kilns in the south. See the 10th-11th century 'Yue' zhadou of similar form, with globular body carved with upright lotus petals and a wide rim incised with lotus scroll, in the collection of the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Vol.12, Tokyo, 1977, pls.41-42.Zhadou of this form also exist in slightly later Qingbai wares. Compare with a Qingbai spittoon, Northern Song dynasty, in the Kai Yin Lo Collection, illustrated in Bright as Silver, White as Snow, Hong Kong, 1998, pl.29.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
A magnificent large very pale green jade 'stag and young' groupQianlongSuperbly carved as a large reclining stag with its head held high and turned sharply towards a smaller deer, the stag with long antlers extending down its neck, its legs tucked beneath its body, both deer clasping a large, leafy sprig with five lingzhi fungus heads in their mouths, the stone of a very pale green-white tone with russet patches, with silver-inlaid wood stand. 19cm (7 1/2in) long. (2).Footnotes:清乾隆 青白玉雕雙鹿銜芝擺件Provenance: Erwin Scharf (1904-1978), and thence by descentErwin Scharf (1904-1978) emigrated from Germany to Britain in the 1930s to escape Nazi persecution of the Jews. He graduated from the university of Leipzig with a doctorate in law but never practiced, rather going into the family business of manufacturing sound reproducing components. His brother, Dr Alfred Scharf was an art historian and it was he who encouraged Erwin's interest in art. 來源：Erwin Scharf（1904-1978）舊藏，並由後人保存迄今Erwin Scharf（1904-1978），二十世紀三十年代，為逃避納粹對猶太人的迫害，自德國移民英國。 Erwin畢業於萊比錫大學並獲法學博士學位，後加入製造聲音再現裝置的家族企業。其兄Alfred Scharf博士是一名藝術史學家，激發了Erwin對藝術的興趣。This group is of unusually large size for an animal carving of this period. Skilfully modelled in the round, the sturdy animals effectively contrast with the finely carved branches of lingzhi fungus that scroll around the larger deer to create a sense of movement. The quality of the carving and polish is also of the highest standard. Compare also with a related pale green jade three ram group, Qing dynasty, and a pale green jade carving of a stag and doe with lingzhi fungus, Qing dynasty, in the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in the Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade, Qing Dynasty, vol.9, Beijing, 2010, pls.143 and 145. See also a related jade recumbent deer with lingzhi in its mouth, Qing dynasty 1700s, in the Cleveland Museum of Art (acc.no.1952.498).Deer have a number of auspicious meanings in Chinese culture. Shoulao, the Star God of Longevity, is usually depicted accompanied by a spotted deer, crane, peach and pine tree. Thus each of these, including the deer, has come to represent long life. Deer are also believed to be the only animals that can find the fungus of immortality. In addition, deer may represent Luxing, the God of Rank and Emolument. The Chinese word for deer (lu 鹿), sounds like the word for emolument or an official salary (lu 祿), thus deer are symbolic of the rank and wealth that are associated with such a salary. The word for deer is also a homophone for 'road' and for 'six'. Thus two deer suggest two auspicious phrases: Lulu shunli, 'May all roads be smooth', and Liuliu dashun, 'May everything be smooth sailing'.Compare with a smaller white jade group of stag and doe with lingzhi, 18th century, which was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 01 June 2011, lot 3561.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: YY Subject to CITES regulations when exporting items outside of the EU, see clause 13.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
An archaistic spinach-green jade 'dragon and phoenix' vase, zunQianlongCrisply carved as a standing mythical bird with the head facing forward slightly to the right, carrying a hollowed vase incised with C-scrolls between a pair of upswept wings, a scaly dragon curled around behind the phoenix and the vase, the stone of dark olive-green tone with black flecks, silver-wire inlaid wood stand.10.2cm (3 1/2in) high. (2).Footnotes:清乾隆 碧玉雕龍鳳尊Provenance: a European private collection, and thence by descent來源：歐洲私人收藏，並由後人保存迄今The combination of the dragon and phoenix is from Daoism, and represents sagacity, long life and benevolence. A related 'dragon and phoenix' vase group from the Harvard University Art Museum, is illustrated in Chinese Art in Overseas Collections, Jade I, Taipei, 1981, no.153.The shape of the vase in the present group is in imitation of archaic bronzes, and archaistic jade carvings of the Song dynasty. A related white jade example, in the form of an archaic bronze gu of diamond cross-section, 18th century, also detailed with a dragon on the side of the vase, is illustrated by R.Kleiner, Chinese Jades from the Collection of Alan and Simone Hartman, Hong Kong, 1996, p.188, no.144, and later sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28 November 2006, lot 1385.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: YY Subject to CITES regulations when exporting items outside of the EU, see clause 13.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
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