AN EXCEPTIONAL BAMBOO PARFUMIER

Details

AN EXCEPTIONAL BAMBOO PARFUMIER
LATE MING DYNASTY, 16TH/17TH CENTURY

Superbly carved in low relief and reticulated with five mythical creatures including, in descending order, a phoenix, a makara, a buddhistic lion, a dragon and a chilong set against a dense scrolling ruyi ground, each of the creatures with finely detailed hair and features, their twisting bodies culminating in bifurcated tails, all within borders of flowering peony, lotus and prunus branches at both ends
7 3/4 in. (19.5 cm.) high

Provenance

Acquired in London in the 1960's

Lot Essay

The carving on the present piece is exceptionally fluid and detailed. A number of related parfumiers dating to the late Ming dynasty are known but it is extremely rare to find such a panoply of mythical creatures depicted on a single carving. The only other published late Ming mythical beast parfumier of comparable quality is in the Wang Shixiang Collection illustrated by Wang Shixiang and Wan-go Weng, Bamboo Carving of China, New York, 1983, p. 26, figs. 12 and 12a.

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