Asian Art I - 15th November 2016
Lot 12
A RARE CHINESE AGATE MALLOW-SHAPED BOWL 18TH CENTURY Carved with overlapping petals radiating...
Estimate £2,000 - £3,000 | Hammer £6500
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Description
A RARE CHINESE AGATE MALLOW-SHAPED BOWL
18TH CENTURY
Carved with overlapping petals radiating from the base, incised to the exterior with gently-curving veins, the lobed rim flaring outwards, the golden stone with russet-brown striations and markings, 9.3cm.
Provenance: Lt. Col. Edmund Whitehead (1870-1945), an interpreter for the British Army who served in Beijing c.1890, and thence by descent.
Cf. The National Palace Museum, Harmony and Integrity, The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times, pp.235-245, where other examples of agate vessels are illustrated; see also Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 4th April 2012, lot 125 for a bowl of similar form.