Lot 117. A finely carved imperial ruby-red overlay glass 'warriors' box and cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795);  18.2 cm, 7 1/8  in. Estimate 250,000 — 300,000 HKD. Lot Sold 300,000 HKD. Photo: Sotheby's.   

exquisitely carved through the outer layer of ruby-red glass to the speckled white ground, the top of the cover decorated with a medallion enclosing a dramatic scene of two warriors, one rendered attacking the other with his long spear, the victim depicted falling off his horse, the landscape set with jagged rockwork and gnarled pine trees with a defensive wall in the background, the sides of the cover decorated with a frieze of three large flowering lotus blooms borne on undulating stems issuing curling furled leaves, all between two thin bands, the box similarly rendered along the exterior with a lotus scroll between two thin bands, all supported on a short splayed foot.

Note: Although unmarked, the quality of the carved decoration on this outstanding box and cover, which skifully utilises varying levels of relief through the ruby-red overlays to render the battle scene in a dynamic, vivid style, clearly points to it being a work produced at the Palace Workshops. The texture and style of carving is closely reminiscent of another unmarked Qianlong period ruby-red overlay vessel, a vase in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhang Rong, Luster of Autumn Water. Glass of the Qing Imperial Workshop, Beijing, 2004, pl. 54. Compare also the treatment of the scrolling flowers carved on a Qianlong reign-marked ruby-red zhadou, illustrated ibid., pl. 60, which closely resembles that on the current box and cover.

Sotheby's. Important Chinese Art: The Collection of a Parisian Connoisseur, Part III, Hong Kong, 05 Oct 2016, 11:30 AM