Lot Essay
Yun Gu is a pseudonym for the artist Yang Qian, son of Yang Po, who was active in the Kangxi-Yongzheng periods. He was a native of Jiading in Jiangsu province, and was well known for carvings in ivory and bamboo. He was also skilled at carving seals, jade and hardstone, and is recorded by Laurence C.S. Tam in Chinese Bamboo Carving, Part II, Hong Kong, 1982, p. 134, no. 280.