B28

Chalcedony, pale-beige with a contrasting darker area carved to depict a perched eagle, his head turned back whilst waiting for his mate who can be seen in the distance; the well-hollowed bottle of rounded form, with an indented oval foot.

Chinese, 1750 - 1860
Stopper: bronze with a dragon
Provenance: Erik Hancock
Marchant & Son, 1974
Height: 5cm

This simple rendition of the well known perched eagle is extremely effective. The Qianlong Emperor (1736-1795) was passionate about nature, whether wildlife, insects, flowers, trees, or the elements, and thus many of these subjects came to be depicted on the applied arts that were made for presentation to the court.