Lot Essay
This exceptional fan belongs to an elite group of luxury wares produced in the 18th century in Guangzhou, as tribute for the Court. Like the present example, they typically feature bird and flower scenes rendered in delicate ivory appliques superimposed on intricately woven ivory caning, all mounted in a tortoiseshell frame and attached to a painted enamel handle. Several comparable fans are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and are illustrated in Zhongguo meishu quanji; Zhumu yajiaoqi, vol. 11, Shanghai, 1996, p. 95, no. 113. (Fig. 1); The Palace Museum Collection of Elite Carvings, Beijing, 2002, pp. 181-2, nos. 140-1; Gugong zhenbao, Beijing, 2004, p. 159; and Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1987, p. 71, no. 7. See, also, the fan of similar type included in the exhibition Chinese Ivories from the Kwan Collection, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 28 July - 14 October 1990, p. 351, no. 184.