A pair of ivory panels. Early 20th century
Of flat, slightly arced shape corresponding to the curve of the tusk, carved in sunken relief with undercuttings at the centre with a phoenix standing on a rock surrounded by a pine and chrysanthemums and a variety of birds, at each end a decending dragon. On the reverse in relief an apocryphal Qianlong yu zhi four-character mark. (2)
Height 13 cm; length 51.3 cm
This pair of plaques is a representative example of late Chinese ivory carving produced for Western collectors. The best examples of this type of carving can be seen in the collection of Victor Sassoon (1881-1961), amassed before the Second World War in Peking and Shanghai. Very similar plaques representing the Hundred Birds and the peacock (bai niao chao feng) are illustrated in S. E. Lucas, The Catalogue of Sassoon Chinese Ivories, Volume Two, London/New York 1950, no. 608 (dated here to the 18th century) and R. Kerr, P. Allen und Shih Ching-fei, Chinese Ivory Carvings. The Sir Victor Sassoon Collection, London 2016, p. 123 (dated here late Qing to early Republican period, 20th century).
Similar pairs of plaques were part of the collection of William Hawksley Grice (1891-1976) who practiced medicine in China in the 1920s and 1930s, and are today housed in the Sheffield museums, see Chinese Ivories. Catalogue and Souvenir of the Grice Collection, The Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, 1958, nos 89 to 94 (dated here to the late 18th century), and no. 94 illustrated on plate 35.
二十世紀早期 象牙雕花鳥紋板一對
《乾隆年製》仿款
來源：Crone私人收藏
Provenance
Collection Crone (paper label Collectie Crone)