Chinese Ivory Flowers
July 2014 Auction by Far East Asian Art

Originally these seven little masterpieces were elements of an elaborate floral vase or other table ornament. They are rare and remarkably lifelike and most retain the ivory shanks that bore the wire attaching the flowers to the main body. (One petal of the dogwood flower has been drilled with a tiny hole that must have allowed it to be joined to a cluster of blossoms.) They are extraordinarily well preserved and vary in length from two inches to 1-1/14 inches. Chinese, circa 1880.