Lot 63
FINE AND RARE CHINESE ZITAN CARVED ARCHAISTIC RECTANGULAR DING-FORM VESSEL WITH COVER
QING DYNASTY, 18TH CENTURY
Auction: 07 November 2025 from 10:00 GMT
Description
清 紫檀嵌鏍鈿出戟饕餮紋仿古方鼎 帶青金石嵌鏍鈿雙螭龍太極鈕蓋
carved in archaistic bronze ding form, the square body supported by four elaborate zoomorphic blade legs and surmounted with two upward handles, the body inlaid with mother-of-pearl decoration on each face of a band of stylised taotie mask and another band of two confronting chi-dragons, the stepped cover reticulately carved from a piece of lapis lazuli with four ruyi-cloud apertures, further adored with two clambering mother-of-pearl chi-dragons in high relief, the zitan finial atop with mother-of-pearl inlaid Taiji motif
Dimensions
11.2cm high
Footnote
It is extremely rare to find archaistic ding-form vessels of the Qing dynasty made of wooden material. They are more commonly made of bronze, cloisonne enamel, porcelain or jade. Two Qing dynasty burlwood root censers of ding-form are comparable to the present example in their wooden material: one was in the Qing Court collection and now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, museum number: Gu Diao 故雕 236; the other was sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 07 April 2010, lot 1743. A further comparable example of ding-form vessel, made of unusual rhinoceros horn material and dated to the Qianlong period, was in the Mary and George Bloch Collection and sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 23 October 2005, lot 114.
清代仿古方鼎以木質製成者極為罕見，常見者多以銅、掐絲琺瑯、瓷器或玉製成。兩件可資比較之清前至中期癭木鼎式爐，附元白玉秋山頂，清宮舊藏，今存於臺北國立故宮博物院，館藏編號「故雕236」；另一件2010年4月7日售於香港蘇富比，拍品1743。另有一件以犀角製成之清乾隆鼎式器，瑪麗與喬治‧布勞赫舊藏，2005年10月23日售於香港蘇富比，拍品114。