AN AGATE PEBBLE WEIGHT, SONG TO MING DYNASTYChina, 13th-15th century. The translucent stone of cream and amber color with brown shadings, alternating fingerprints, bands of ochre, brown and gray, and an area of crystalline striations. The stone is sensitively carved, masterfully incorporating both polished and rough areas and exposing the crystalline structure underneath.Provenance: From the private collection of Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022), who was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashionpany with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother’s business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.Condition: Good condition with expected old wear and traces of extensive usage, some erosion, minuscule nicks here and there, few natural fissures, and inherent pitting.Weight: 292.7 gDimensions: Length 7.5 cmExpert’s note: The lapidary, after finding the exact right stone for their task, carved and polished as little as possible, letting nature do most of the work, to achieve the greatest possible effect and highlight the stone’s spectacular features.Auction resultparison:Type: Closely relatedAuction: Galerie Zacke, Vienna, 15 October 2021, lot 30Price: EUR 4,298 or approx.EUR 4,700 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writingDescription: A rare agate ‘recumbent hare’ pebble, Song to early Ming dynastyExpert remark:pare the closely related form and color. Note the different size (9 cm).宋至明瑪瑙山子鎮紙中國，十三至十五世紀。半透明的琥珀色瑪瑙，帶有棕色陰影、交替赭石、棕色和灰色紋理帶，以及結晶條紋區域。瑪瑙石經過巧妙地結合了拋光和啞光區域，並露出下面的晶體結構。