A rare carved amethyst brush washer and stained ivory stand, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795)

Lot 3402. A rare carved amethyst brush washer and stained ivory stand, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795); 10.5 cm, 4 1/8  in.; overall 11.1 cm, 4 3/8  in. Estimate: 300,000 — 500,000 HKD. Lot sold 375,000 HKD (USD). Courtesy Sotheby's.

finely carved in the form of two adjacent lingzhi-shaped washers with a bat perched on one edge, borne on gnarled leafy stems issuing further smaller lingzhi heads with a chilong clambering atop, the beast with a sinuous body terminating in a bifurcated tail, detailed with a finely combed mane and beard, the transparent stone of a pale violet tone with lighter inclusions, the brown-stained ivory stand intricately carved in openwork with a beribboned bundle of curved stems issuing budding and flowering lotus, broad veined leaves and arrowheads.

Provenance: Joseph M. Morpurgo, Amsterdam, early 2000s.

Exhibited: Cernuschi Museum, Paris, July 1937 (label).

Note: The present amethyst brush washer, skilfully carved in the round with lively chilong and auspicious lingzhi, is unusual for its wonderful craftsmanship and the use of the rare material. Only a limited number of amethyst carvings from the Qing dynasty is known, predominantly small in size, such as seals and snuff bottles, designed for the scholar’s desk or the gentleman’s pocket. One such example is a pale amethyst flower vessel carved with lingzhi and clouds, preserved in the Shenyang Palace Museum. Another amethyst carving, in the form of a reclining immortal, is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. See also an amethyst oval seal carved with a recumbent chilong and the hall name Leshantang (Delight in Goodness Hall), made during the Yongzheng period for the future Qianlong Emperor while he was still a prince, preserved in a box set of sixteen seals in the Palace Museum, Beijing, and published in Gugong jingdian: Ming qing di hou bao xi/Classics of the Forbidden City: Imperial Seals of the Ming & Qing Dynasties, Beijing, 2008, cat. no. 182, p. 222.

It is recorded that in the first month of the 47th year of the Qianlong period (1782), among the presents gifted to Dnos-grub-rab-brtan (1721-1792), there was an amethyst flower vessel carved with magnolia; see Qinggong neiwufu zaobanchu dang'an zonghui [General collection of archival records from the Qing imperial household department workshop], Beijing, 2005, vol. 45, pp. 422-423.