LATE 17TH/18TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE IMPERIAL CARVED IVORY FLY WHISK HANDLE
LATE 17TH/18TH CENTURY
Finely carved around the slender waisted sides with two dragons confronted amidst clouds between bands of dragon scroll, with a coiled foliate dragon on the flat circular end and C-scrolls on the pierced domed end
4¼ in. (10.9 cm.) long

Provenance

Sydney L. Moss, London, June 1986.

Literature

Roger Keverne, Ivories of China and the East, Spink & Son Ltd., London, 1984, no. 124.
Paul Moss, The Literati Mode, London, 1986, pp. 224-6, no. 101.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

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Lot Essay

In his discussion of this rare fly whisk handle in The Literati Mode, 1986, pp. 224-5, Paul Moss compares the carving to that seen on other small ivory scholar's articles that emanated from the palace workshops during the Kangxi period, and suggests that the style of carving was either influenced by the work of the imperial workshops or may have been made in those workshops.

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