PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE ASIAN COLLECTION SOLD TO BENEFIT MENTAL HEALTH CHARITIES IN ASIA

A RARE CONCH SHELL WITH GILT-COPPER REPOUSSÉ AND ENAMEL-INSET MOUNT

QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY

Details

A RARE CONCH SHELL WITH GILT-COPPER REPOUSSÉ AND ENAMEL-INSET MOUNT
QING DYNASTY, 19TH CENTURY
The shell is finely polished and mounted with a gilt-copper flange worked in relief with the Eight Buddhist Emblems, the edges embellished with enamel beads, and incised with a possibly later Qianlong mark; together with a yellow and orange silk streamer embroidered with lotus blossoms and butterflies attached with silk tassels.
8 1/8 in. (20.6 cm.) long (shell); 21 ¼ in. (54 cm.) long (tassel), box

Provenance

Sold at Nagel, 8 December 2014, lot 70

Brought to you by

Priscilla Kong

PKong@christies.com +852 2978 9958

Lot Essay

In Tibetan Buddhism the conch is used to call together religious assemblies and it is seen as symbolising the Voice of the Buddha and the transmission of Buddhist teachings. During the actual practice of rituals, it is used both as a musical instrument and as a container for holy water. Under the reign of the Qianlong Emperor, a variety of ritual implements were produced, often of extraordinary quality and employing unusual materials and techniques. The mount of the present example is of excellent workmanship, executed in gilt-metal repoussé with an intricate design of the Eight Auspicious Symbols amidst lotus scrolls. For a similar Qianlong conch shell attached with tassels, but incised with a yuzhi mark with mount filled with enamels, see the example from the James and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection, Chicago, sold at Christie’s New York, 22 March 2011, lot 2510 (fig. 1).

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