A LARGE CARVED IVORY AND REVERSE-PAINTED GLASS LANDSCAPE OF GUILIN

LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY

細節

A LARGE CARVED IVORY AND REVERSE-PAINTED GLASS LANDSCAPE OF GUILIN
late 18th/early 19th century
Comprising several sections of reverse-painted glass depicting an extensive landscape with the city of Guilin along the banks of a wide river nestling below steep hills and rocky crags in the background, the buildings, temples, city wall, hills, trees, bridges and fishermen in their boats formed as carved and painted overlapping sections of ivory attached with gold and copper wire and applied to the reverse-painted river and sky, minor losses to ivory segments
28¾ x 44 in. (73 x 112 cm.), framed

拍品專文

Guilin is reknowned for its breathtaking scenery, and in particular its bizarre rock formations, many being reflected in its river, a tributary of the Yangtze and Likiang rivers. Many of the rocks and hills are perforated with numerous caves and the scenery of Guilin has been reproduced in painting and poetry for centuries.

Compare the related panel of a view of the hongs in Canton, illustrated in Tributes from Guangdong to the Qing Court, fig.86, p.102; and the ivory landscape panel inscribed with a poem by Qianlong, in the collection of Lord Fairhaven, illustrated by R. Soame Jenyns and William Watson, Chinese Art, The Minor Arts II, 1965, no.97 (colour plate).