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The Imperial Studio

Asian Art in London
29 October - 7 November 2009

20. A Carved Double Gourd

Daoguang carved four-character seal mark and of the period (1821–50)

The gourd has a natural form with two bulbs and a slender midsection. It is carved in shallow relief with five stylised bats amidst florets around the upper bulb, and five xi characters around the lower. The base is carved with lotus petals surrounding the reign mark.

22 cm. high

Compare a carved double gourd of similar form made for the fifth Prince Ding and dated to 1801, illustrated by Moss and Tsang in Art from the Scholar’s Studio, Hong Kong, 1986, no. 108, p. 138. Compare also a circular moulded-gourd brush pot with a Daoguang mark in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated by Wang Shixiang in Zhongguo Hulu, Shanghai, 1998, p. 41.

Exhibition catalogue:

• Introduction

1. A Zitan Brush Pot
   
   
2. An Inlaid Huanghuali Document Chest
   
   
3. A Green Enamelled Leaf-Shaped Porcelain Ink Palette
   
   
4. A Tianhuang Seal
   
   
5. A Tianhuang Seal
   
   
6. A Songhua Inkstone
   
   
7. A Superb Carved Cinnarbar Lacquer Brushpot
   
   
8. A Huangfurong Seal
   
   
9. A Duan Ink Stone
   
   
10. A Pale Celadon Jade Washer
    
    
11. An Ivory Wrist-rest
    
    
12. A Four-coloured Overlay Glass Washer
    
    
13. An Agate Seal Paste Box and Cover
    
    
14. An Ivory Brushpot
    
    
15. An Octagonal She Inkstone
    
    
16. A Celadon Glazed Porcelain Inkpalette
    
    
17. A Soapstone Brush Washer
    
    
18. A Jade-Inset Zitan Ink Stand
    
    
19. A Bamboo Veneer Document Box
    
    
20. A Carved Double Gourd
    
    

• Emperors of the Qing Dynasty