A CHINESE ROCK CRYSTAL 'PHOENIX' GROUP

A CHINESE ROCK CRYSTAL 'PHOENIX' GROUP
18TH/19TH CENTURY

Comprising a brush washer and waterpot, the waterpot formed as a hollowed peach upon a rock, the brush washer worked as a tree trunk carved in relief with a bat and lingzhi, with an elegant phoenix and a peach uniting the two vessels, the mythical bird and small fruit picked out in a green section of the stone, the base incised with three characters reading Tian lai ge, The Pavilion of Heavenly Sound, 20.3cm.

Provenance: the Lawrence Collection of jades and hardstone carvings, purchased from Spink & Son prior to 1959.

The Pavilion of Heavenly Sound was the name of the private library of the famous connoisseur Xiang Yuanbian (1525-1590). Xiang was born in Jiaxing in Zhejiang province into a family of wealthy merchants and officials. Over his life, Xiang built an excellent collection of rare books, paintings and calligraphy, many of which later became part of the Imperial Collection of the Qing court.

十八/十九世紀 水晶雕如意福壽富貴洗

《天籟閣》款

來源：勞倫斯珍藏玉石，1959年前購於Spink & Son。

天籟閣是著名收藏家浙江項氏家族項元汴（1525-1590）珍藏金石書畫的地方，據傳因得古琴天籟而命名。