Fine Chinese Paintings & Works of Art - 23rd November 2021
Lot 2025
A RARE CHINESE CARVED AMBER QILIN PLAQUE
Estimate £3,000 - £5,000 | Hammer £10000
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Description
A RARE CHINESE CARVED AMBER QILIN PLAQUE
16TH/17TH CENTURY
Finely carved in relief with two fighting qilins forming an oval plaque, each with a fierce expression, their horns, manes and backbones delicately detailed with hair, the amber with varying honey-coloured tones, 7.5cm.
Provenance: from a British private collection, purchased from Spink & Son Ltd., 16th September 1992. A copy of the invoice is available.
Cf. D A Grimaldi, Amber: Window to the Past, p.196, for another mythical beast amber plaque from the Drummond Collection in the American Museum of Natural History.