Ivory and Gourd Cricket Cage

moulded of tapering hexagonal form, featuring floral arrangements in vases interspersed by inscription, surmounted by an ivory double-tiered rim with pierced tortoise shell cover, worked in reticulation featuring articulated lions playing with balls, the base moulded with four-character mark, inscribed with poem by Wang Wei ‘随意春芳歇, 王孙自可留, ‘Despite the fact that flowers bloom and wither, I would like to stay secluded in the mountains’, ‘Despite the fact that flowers bloom and wither, I would like to stay secluded in the mountains’

Measurements:

height 19.5 cm

Provenance:

The Collection of a Gentleman, Sydney

Labels:

Moulded gourd vessels were made by placing a wooden mould on the growing gourd. Once mature, the mould was broken and the gourd emerged. Kangxi emperors had fields specially planted with gourd wines in the west garden adjacent to the forbidden city

• EStimate $3,000 - $5,000
• sold $4,800 Incl BP