Important pot à pinceaux en ivoire sculpté, Chine, dynastie Qing, époque Qianlong (1736-1795) - Sotheby's

le pourtour admirablement sculpté en haut relief d'une scène racontant l'histoire de l'Empereur Yu domptant les crues du fleuve, depuis un sentier surplombant une rivière où trois paysans manient la charrue tirée par un buffle, le tout dans un paysage montagneux planté de pins touffus; 14,5 cm, 5 3/4  in. Estimation: 50,000 - 70,000 EUR

A fine and rare ivory brushpot, China, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795)

NOTE: The present ivory brushpot is special for its superb three-dimensional carving that employs the technique known in Chinese as xian di shen ke or the ‘sunken ground deep carving’, developed by artists in the early 18th century. Wang Shixiang in Bamboo Carving in China, New York, 1983, p. 36, notes that this technique had its origins in bamboo carving, whereby artisans working in this medium transferred their skills to the carving of ivory. As may be seen on thisexample, the ‘ground’ is deeply sunk into the section of ivory to allow the figural and landscape sections to stand out and to be carved in round and with much use of undercutting. For more information on this carving technique see Craig Clunas, Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, London, 1984, p. 126, where an ivory brushpot fashioned with a scene of rural life, from the Irving collection is illustrated ibid., pl. 176. Compare also a brushpot dated to 1774 carved with children at play and belonging to this special group of ivory wares, from the collection of Sir Victor Sassoon, also included ibid., pl. 179. Another brushpot attributed to the 18th century and decorated in similar high relief with sages and attendants in a mountainous landscape, included in the exhibition Ivories of China and the East, London, 1984, cat. no. 142, shares similarities in the carving style and the arrangement of the pines and rocks as seen on this example. The brushpot was later included in the collection of Mary and George Bloch and sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 23rd October 2005, lot 65. Compare also a slightly smaller brushpot carved with a fishing scene in a landscape of rocks, water, trees and pavilions published in Chinese Ivories from the Kwan Collection, Hong Kong, 1990, pl. 119, attributed to the early Qing period; and a piece with a design of joyful fishermen signed by the famous court artist and ivory carver Huang Zhenxiao, in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carvings, Beijing, 2004, pl. 121. Huang was recruited from Guangzhou, where many of the talented ivory carvers originated from, to work in the Palace Workshop in 1737 with the support of Qianlong’s court.

Sotheby's. Arts d'Asie. Paris | 12 juin 2013 - www.sothebys.com