Lot Essay
Compare with the wrist-rest in the Victoria and Albert Museum with a design of 'The Eighteen Luohans crossing the Sea', exhibited by The Oriental Ceramic Society and the British Museum in 1984, and illustrated in Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, Catalogue, no.151. The subject matter of the Buddha and his closest disciples is common for the period and associated with the carver Du Shiyuan amongst others. Another example similarly decorated with the Eight Immortals crossing the Sea is illustrated in Chinese Ivories from the Kwan Collection, Catalogue, no.130. It is possible that such ornate rests were not in fact used but inserted in stands for display as table screens