ORIENTAL IVORY CARVINGS 125 



this being known as the Gama Sennin motif* Ivory carv- 

 ings also adorned another tortoise-shell cage that sold for 

 $1,025 at this auction. f 



This association of living creatures with delicate and 

 artistic work is one among many instances of that happy 

 blending of a love of both nature and art, giving proof of 

 the high endowment of the Chinese in true esthetic percep- 

 tion, one of the many things that helps us to forget the 

 backwardness of Chinese civilization in much that makes 

 for the comfort, health, and prosperity of a people. 



In the splendid collection of Prince Kung which was 

 recently sold at auction in New York, and which consisted 

 principally of wonderful jade carvings, there were a few 

 very fine specimens of Chinese ivories, the most striking 

 being two miniature representations of Imperial pleasure 

 barges and a pair of richly adorned vases. One of the pleas- 

 ure craft has a dragon-head prow, while the other is in the 

 form of the feng or phoenix; all the details are carefully 

 elaborated, and through the grillwork of the decks can be 

 seen the Imperial chairs set in each of the staterooms. Of 

 the vases, carved in high relief, one offers a representation 

 of the Chinese goddess of mercy, Kwan-yin, riding on an 

 elephant; another of the immortals is borne to heaven on a 

 dragon's back. The other vase illustrates a procession of 

 Taoist immortals, while hovering over them appears the 

 fairy Si Wang Mu seated on a bird of paradise. J 



A Chinese ivory carving, probably some 200 years old, 

 represents the reclining figure of a nude woman with the 

 typically small feet. Its dimensions are 18 cm. in length 

 and about 4 cm. in greatest height, and it is carved out of a 



♦Catalogue No. 193. 

 tCatalogue No. 194. 



JCatalogue of the Prince Kung Collection, sold at the American Art Galleries, Madison 

 Square, New York, February 27, 28, and March 1, 1913. See Nos. 202, 207. 



