An agate teapot and cover. China, Qing dynasty. Photo Florence Number Nine

Beautiful and rare teapot sculpted in two pieces of agate: one for the body and another for the cap. It rests on three feet and has a curved handle which resembles the knottiness of a bamboo trunk; the nozzle is slightly curved, while the cap is concave-shaped. On the body, there is a pretty relief decoration with dragons, and above that there is a ruyi band; the cap is embellished with a band of coupled petals. 12,5 x 9 cm. Estimate: €1,500 - €2,000

There is another teapot in agate, similar to this one in shape and size, located in the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (M. Knight, He Li and T. Tse Batolomew, “Chines Jades. Ming Dynasty to Early Twentieth Century. From the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco”, San Francisco 2007, p. 131, no. 118).

Florence Number Nine. Asian, Himalayan & Indian Works of Art. 18 May 2013 10:30am http://florencenumbernine.com/ .