An Imperial Agate Washer with a Stained Ivory Stand. Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period - Photo Sotheby's

the agate naturalistically carved as a large lotus leaf sheltering a small catfish, finely incised with veins and detailed with attendant buds and a root, all issuing from stippled stems undulating next to a leafy reed on the underside, the translucent stone of attractive warm beige colour, fitted on a green-stained ivory stand carved with a swirling stream with buds and a pod emerging from the waves, further set on a zitan base inlaid with archaistic motifs in silver wires. 17.5 cm., 6 7/8 in. Estimation: 2,000,000 - 3,000,000 HKD - Lot. Vendu 2,420,000 HKD

NOTE DE CATALOGUE: Exquisitely carved to depict a catfish enclosed by a lotus leaf, this washer is a fine example of the plethora of novel designs and improved carving skills that characterise works of the Qianlong period. This piece is notable for the lustrous even hue of the stone which gives a watery impression to this material. The craftsman has cleverly identified and taken advantage of such innate qualities by choosing a water-based subject to fashion from the stone. A dark green agate brush washer, similarly carved in the shape of a lotus leaf and with a small frog perched on the side, inthe Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, is published in James C. Y. Lin, The Immortal Stone. Chinese Jades from the Neolithic Period to the Twentieth Century,Cambridge, 2009, p. 136 (bottom middle). Compare related examples carved from jade, such as a more simply-fashioned lotus leaf-form brushwasher enclosing a fish with a trifurcated tail sold in these rooms, 19th November 1986, lot 363; and another with two frogs, sold at Christie's New York, 18th September 2003, lot 109.

The expanding territory and contact with neighbouring and foreign countries contributed to great developments in hardstone carving. The relative abundance of materials, such as large nephrite jade boulders from Xinjiang, jadeite from Burma, lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, and crystal and agate from the Yangzi River regions. Agate was treasured for its luminous colouration and translucent quality and is one of the hardstones that was valued as much as the finest quality jade. For examples of imperial agate carvings see a shallow bowl in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Chinese Jades Throughout the Ages, vol. 11, Hong Kong, 1996, pl. 28; and a bowl delicately carved as a blooming mallow, from the Water, Pine and Stone Retreat collection, sold in these rooms, 4th April 2012, lot 125. See also a lobed bowl offered as tribute by a high official during the reign of Qianlong, illustrated in Qingdai gongting shenghuo [Life in the Forbidden City during the Qing Dynasty], Hong Kong, 1985, pl. 280.

The first character of the Chinese name for a catfish, nianyu, is a pun for 'year', while the second character is a pun for 'abundance'. A fish wrapped in a lotus leaf forms the rebus, 'May you continuously have plenty year after year ' (liannian youyu), or 'May you have an abundance of money in your purse' (hebao jinyu). In the first interpretation, the lotus leaf acts as a pun for 'continuous'; in the second interpretation, 'lotus wrap' and 'purse' are both pronounced hebao.

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. Hong Kong | 09 oct. 2012 www.sothebys.com