Lot 241
Treasury 7, no. 1676 (‘Excess Pearl’)
HK$250,000

Ivory; with a flat lip and recessed foot surrounded by a protruding flat footrim; carved with a continuous scene of a rocky foreshore to a body of water defined as formalized waves, on which two Buddhist luohan stand, one holding an elaborate staff with six simulated loose rings hanging from it, another an alms bowl, and a third, seated on a rocky outcrop over the water, holding a flaming pearl up to a five-clawed imperial dragon with flaming flanks; the neck and outer footrim each with a band of double-unit leiwen (thunder pattern), the foot inscribed in regular script, Qianlong nian zhi (Made during the Qianlong period) in a square cartouche defined by twinned lines
Imperial Master, Japan, 1854–1910
Height: 6.23 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.71/1.70 cm
Stopper: ivory and green pigment, carved in the shape of a melon or gourd set on a collar with a band of double-unit leiwen; original

Illustration: watercolour by Peter Suart

Provenance:
Robert Hall (1987)

Published:
Hall 1987, no. 1
Forte, Spring 1995, p. 34
Kleiner 1995, no. 314
JICSBS, Autumn 2000, front cover
Treasury 7, no. 1676

Exhibited:
British Museum, London, June–October 1995
Israel Museum, Jerusalem, July–November 1997

The form here is typical of moulded-porcelain bottles from the mid-Qing period, but no known moulded-porcelain exemplar of this design exists—nor could it exist; the design is a Japanese invention. The five claws on the upper foreleg are splayed out like a Catherine wheel in a strange manner quite unlike what one would expect of a Chinese beast, not to mention the anomaly of a five-clawed dragon in combination with a Buddhist luohan. The imperial Chinese dragon chases a flaming pearl, but the beast associated with the luohan does not; and for obvious reasons, the flaming pearl that the Chinese dragon chases would not be held in the palm of anyone’s hand in Chinese art—not even if he wore asbestos gloves. This luohan is sometimes identified as the twelfth of the sixteen luohan, and sometimes as the tenth of the sixteen, but any attempt to sort out the iconography ends with the usual conclusion: where the luohan are concerned, lists and attributes will differ.

If this is another typical Japanese pastiche with confused iconography, it is also a magnificent work of art, the epitome of this group: superbly carved and with a soft, natural-looking patination. It is easy to see why we considered these for so long to be the finest of all ivory snuff bottles and leapt to the conclusion that they were, ergo, genuine as marked. Having unmasked them as Japanese works with forged marks, we find no warrant to alter our esteem for their artistic achievement.

This is not the Sotheby’s sale catalogue. This is a product of Hugh Moss for the purposes of this website. For the catalogue details please refer to Sotheby’s website or request a copy of a printed sale catalogue from Sotheby’s.