10 - A CHINESE CARVING WITH RED CORAL

A CHINESE CARVING WITH RED CORAL Dimensions: Height 10,5 cm Wide 9 cm Depth 5 cm Weight: 254 grams A compact red coral carving in which a robed figure emerges from the natural branching form of the material. The figure is seated or nestled within the coral, wearing a high cap and layered robes, while smooth organic branches curve around the body like a miniature landscape. The sculptor has left large areas of the coral in their natural shape, using existing openings, protrusions and changes in thickness as part of the composition. The surface ranges from intense orange-red to softer, paler passages, with natural pores and inclusions remaining visible throughout. That dialogue between nature and carving is one of the great attractions of coral sculpture. Unlike a regular block of stone or wood, a coral branch already has its own architecture before the artist begins. The carver must therefore discover a composition within the material, turning forks into framing devices, openings into negative space and irregular growths into rocks, trees or supporting forms. In the present piece the human figure does not simply sit on the coral; it appears almost to have grown out of it. Red coral has long been valued in Asian decorative art for its vivid colour, rarity and unmistakably organic structure. Figural coral carvings were prized as intimate cabinet objects in which the precious material was every bit as important as the subject. Versand in Nicht-EU-Länder ist für diesen Artikel leider nicht möglich shipping is only available within the bounds of the EU