A RARE CHINESE AGATE MALLOW-SHAPED BOWL

18TH CENTURY

Carved with overlapping petals radiating from the base, incised to the exterior with gently-curving veins, the lobed rim flaring outwards, the golden stone with russet-brown striations and markings, 9.3cm.

Provenance: Lt. Col. Edmund Whitehead (1870-1945), an interpreter for the British Army who served in Beijing c.1890, and thence by descent.

Cf. The National Palace Museum, Harmony and Integrity, The Yongzheng Emperor and His Times, pp.235-245, where other examples of agate vessels are illustrated; see also Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 4th April 2012, lot 125 for a bowl of similar form.