18th century
The appliqué is finely carved in the form of two boys, each holding an implement, probably a musical instrument. They are dressed in loose fitting robes fastened with a sash, their hair bound in two double knots, and showing traces of red, green and black colour.
Length 8.7 cm
Provenance: Collection of Feng-Chun Ma
Illustrated in: Feng-Chun Ma, A Thousand Years of Hundred Boys in Chinese Art, 10th-20th century, Hong Kong 2024, No. 79, p.197
Figurative appliqués of this type were originally fixed to screens and made of a variety of materials.
They are particularly finely carved, representing the heyday of the carver's art in the 18th century.
Similar examples are said to come from the Summer Palace, as screens and panels carved in relief were used as wall decoration in the interior of various Imperial residences. Few have survived as independent works of art.
See for similar appliqués: Ivories of China and the East, Spink & Son Ltd., 1984, gig. 30/31, and Chinese Ivories from the Shang to the Qing, The Oriental Ceramic Society and the British Museum, 1984, p. 148, figs. 165, 166 and 167
