7.8 cm. （3 in.） wide

Property from the Hongzhen Tang Collection, Hong Kong

The nine-dragon decoration on the present tianhuang carving is representative of the emperor and is suggestive that the present lot is made for his personal use as one of his many personal scholarly objects. The subtle rich colour of the tianhuang stone combined with the precise knifework has brought the nine dragons carving to life by accentuating the great sense of depth and varying degrees of relief.

The nine-dragon motif depicted on the current lot probably refers to the nine sons of the dragon； the mythological sons of the Dragon King. This subject matter is likely to have been inspired by the celebrated Southern Song painting ‘Nine Dragons’ （accession no.17.1697） by the renowned artist, calligrapher and poet, Cheng Rong （1200-1266）, which is currently housed in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and is illustrated by Tung Wu, Tales from the Land of Dragons： 1000 Years of Chinese Painting, Boston, 1997, pp.197-201.

Provenance：
Sydney L. Moss Ltd., London
Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 31 October 2004, lot 122

Price estimate:
HKD: 340, 000 - 440, 000
USD: 43, 600 - 56, 400

Auction Result:
HKD: --