Fenghuang Agate

Official School, 1730–1850
Height: 5.92 cm
Mouth/lip: 0.79/2.35 and 2.30 cm (oval)
Stopper: coral; vinyl and turquoise collar

Provenance:
Mr & Mrs D. A. Ionides
D. A. Ionides Will Trust
Christie’s, London, 13 June 1990, lot 518

Published:
‘Chinese Snuff Bottles,’ The Antique
Collectors’ Club, September 1967,
Vol. 2, no. 5
Kleiner, Yang, Shangraw 1994, no. 226
Treasury 2, no. 278

Exhibited:
Hong Kong Museum of Art, March–June 1994
National Museum, Singapore, November 1994–February 1995

 

Agate; very well hollowed; with a concave lip and slightly concave foot; the natural markings in the stone edited to create, on one side, the design of a fenghuang standing on one leg and, on the other, an eagle, also on one leg, and a bear.

Alexander Whittaker