Presented is a great quality antique Chinese soapstone carving, dating to circa 1900. The piece is in the form of a vase with ornately hand carved peonies complete with stems and leaves and a little songbird perched nearby, on a naturalistic base. The quality of the carving is very good, full of lifelike texturing and detail. The vase itself is also decoratively carved with Chinese dragon motifs. A wonderful display piece.
This item is visually in great condition but does have two professionally done repairs. The repair are well done and the piece is sound, but the repairs are visible particularly on the back, showing across the width of the piece and then around one shoulder, see the fifth photograph. The details of the carving are in great shape however, with no significant losses that I can find.
This piece measures about 11 1/2 inches tall by about 7 inches long, and weighs 10 pounds 4 ounces or 4.65 kilograms. -jm
