A 'DRAGONS' IVORY 'PUZZLE BALL' WITH CARVED IVORY STAND
China, Qing dynasty, 19th century

The sculpture consisting of a base with a circular section pierced on the sides and the upper side with leafy branches in relief, at its center a female figure under flowering branches, the figure surmounted by a moulded stem interrupted in the lower zone with a 'puzzle ball' and then by a pierced cylinder, finally a large sphere with an elaborate and fine work of dragons flying amidst clouds.

42 cm high

Provenance: Italian private collection.
A mention of this kind of ivory working can be found in the Ge gu yao lun ("The essential criteria of antiquities") of 1388. However, specimens that can be dated to that era are not known, while concentric ivory spheres of this type was certainly in the repertoire of German artists active in the 16th-17th century. Most of these Chinese works date from the 19th century, and it is very likely that they were made in Canton, where they caused the general admiration of European buyers.

* The lot is offered with a Certificate of Antiquity by Antichità Ce.S.Ar. (pre-1947).